Nevada County Appoints Clerk to Use Paper Ballots, Hand Counts as Election Challenge Heads to Court

Nye County, southern Nevada, approved Tuesday a temporary county clerk to supervise the 2022 general elections. The Nye County Commission voted 4-1 to appoint Mark Kampf to replace Sandra “Sam”, who resigned following the vote of the commission to abandon electronic voting machines and move to paper ballots. Merlino was a clerk for over two decades since January 2000. Kampf stated that he will use a “parallel method” which combines electronic tabulating and hand counting.

Nevadans will tell Nye County that it is strange. The county is third in size geographically and has a military veteran population of more than 15%. They’ve done more than just cancel voting machines. Dennis Hof, a brothel owner was elected to the state assembly by them weeks after his death.

Kampf, the Republican nominee for the office of the county clerk, is on the November ballot. He won his primary with more than 48 percent. He was the temporary county treasurer during his primary campaign. He resigned from that position to be considered for the clerk’s post. Kampf is facing a nonpartisan opponent, and he is expected to easily beat him in the red county.

Seventeen Republican-leaning Nevada counties, including seven rural ones, considered returning to paper ballots after the 2020 election. After a marathon hearing lasting seven hours, Washoe, which is the second-most populous county in the state, rejected a resolution. This resolution also included the stationing of the Nevada National Guard at every polling place. If the resolution was approved, it was possible for the ACLU of Nevada to bring suit.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office will hold a virtual workshop on august 12 to solicit public input about proposed regulations for tabulating paper ballots by hand. This will lead to a virtual hearing on August 26.

The trial for a primary challenge to the Nevada governor’s election is also scheduled for August 12. Joey Gilbert, a Reno-based attorney, will present his case regarding algorithms that skew tabulations in the June election. He was reported to have lost to Joe Lombardo, Clark County Sheriff, and GOP nominee for Governor. Gilbert had a statewide count conducted at a cost exceeding $190,000. Funded by Robert Beadles, a cryptocurrency investor, it cost over $190,000. Lombardo received 57,808 votes from Clark County while Gilbert lost seven votes. Ironically Nye is only one of three counties in the state where Gilbert did not win. The county commission shows distrust for election processes.

State GOP Chairman Michael McDonald had previously acknowledged Gilbert was entitled to request a recount, but has now affirmed that Joe Lombardo won the primary and is the Republican nominee as governor.

“The election is over. It has been called. Joe Lombardo won. We must come together and unify.”