Conservative group seeks to scrap all-mail election

A conservative vote-monitoring group wants Nevada to scrap its plans to conduct a mail-in primary election in June, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution and would open the state up to voter fraud.

Attorneys for True the Vote filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday challenging Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s plans to shift to an all-mail primary amid coronavirus concerns.

In its complaint, the group says the plan “strips vital anti-vote-fraud safeguards” that exist with in-person voting that “allow local poll workers and watchers to monitor who is voting and deny voting and issue challenges if appropriate.”

Cegavske made the move to a mail primary because of increased risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Her plan includes opening up one polling place in each county.

In normal elections, voters would have to request an absentee ballot. The group says eliminating the request process creates “fraud potential of having unrequested, perhaps unexpected ballots arriving around the state.”

The complaint alleges that Cegavske overstepped her powers. The group argues that it’s up to the Nevada Legislature to determine how elections are carried out.

Wayne Thorley, deputy secretary of state over elections in Nevada, said that the office had received the complaint but declined to comment on it.

Cegavske’s plan is now facing legal challenges from both sides of the political aisle. The Nevada Democratic Party and various Democratic groups last week filed their own lawsuit claiming that the mail-in election would violate Nevadans’ voting rights as well as the U.S. and state constitutions.