‘Registered to vote from strip clubs’: Clark County hit with election lawsuit
Conservative organizations have filed several lawsuits challenging the Silver State’s election processes in advance of November, with the latest relating to commercial addresses they say they found in the state’s voter rolls.
Last week, the Public Interest Legal Foundation, along with two Nevada Republican voters, filed a lawsuit against Clark County’s registrar of voters, seeking to force the largest Nevada county to investigate the use of commercial addresses on voter registrations.
In the 76-page complaint filed in District Court, the foundation, which says it is dedicated “wholly to election integrity,” listed and photographed dozens of addresses in Clark County that it says are commercial and don’t appear to be residences.
“In Clark County, people are registered to vote from strip clubs, casinos, gas stations, and more crazy addresses where it appears no one could reasonably live,” foundation president, J. Christian Adams said in a statement.
“We must have this fixed before the 2024 election,” Adams said. “Otherwise, some of these strip clubs and casinos will receive ballots in the mail.”
The lawsuit includes examples of more than 75 addresses that appear to be commercial locations.
The petitioners in the lawsuit claim they wrote to Lorena Portillo, Clark County registrar of voters, at the beginning of June asking her to investigate the commercial addresses listed in the voter roll but did not hear back. They claim she has violated Nevada law by failing to investigate the commercial addresses.
Clark County and the Nevada Secretary of State’s office, which oversees the state’s elections, declined to comment.
According to state law, individuals are required to register to vote where they live. State law also says that when registering or preregistering to vote, an applicant must put the address at which they reside and may not list a business as the address, unless the person actually resides there. The registration form must also have a line to enter an address at which the applicant can receive mail.
Election officials are required to perform voter list maintenance to ensure accuracy in the voter roll, the complaint says, citing state law.
Similar suits in Washoe County, elsewhere
The foundation filed a similar lawsuit in May against the Washoe County registrar of voters, making the same allegations that commercial addresses are listed on the voter roll. Public Interest Legal Foundation has also filed election-related lawsuits in Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Michigan, according to the foundation.
Lauren Bis, spokeswoman for the Public Interest Legal Foundation, said that the improper addresses could potentially lead to individuals voting in incorrect congressional and other local races.
“Your voter registration address is critical in deciding which local races you vote in,” she said in an email.
The challenges come at a time when, in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act, states must clean the voter roll and remove the names of voters who have become ineligible to vote by means of a change of address. Under the law, states cannot remove people from the rolls 90 days before a federal election, unless it is at the request of the registrant or if they died, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Petition for Writ of Mandamus by Jessica Hill on Scribd
That lawsuit is one of several that have been filed ahead of the November election in Nevada in regard to the Silver State’s elections. Groups such as the Republican National Committee, presidential campaign for Donald Trump and the Nevada Republican Party have filed complaints challenging Nevada’s elections, including the state’s law on mail ballots.
Another lawsuit alleging inconsistencies in Nevada’s voter rolls and claiming voter registration was higher than the populations of certain Nevada counties was dismissed.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.