Court Cases

In conjunction with the national ACLU, we’ve filed a motion to intervene in this case to protect Nevada voters and ensure people can participate in our democracy freely, safely, and without fear.

Nevada's "mailbox deadline" allows mail ballots received up to four business days after Election Day to be counted to account for the practical shortcomings of USPS policies and practices. For example, postmarks are not required on all mailings and are designed to prevent reuse of postage, and mail ballot postmarks may become smudged or illegible. To prevent arbitrary disenfranchisement of voters, mail ballots received by 5 p.m. on the third day after election day that are not clearly postmarked by Election Day are still counted. The Republican National Committee (RNC) claims that this deadline violates federal law because there is only one specific day recognized by federal law as the national election day. We filed an amicus brief asking the court to dismiss the case as Nevada's "mailbox deadline" is a valid exercise of the state's delegated authority over federal elections by the Electoral Count Reform Act, which does not prohibit state laws that allow for timely cast ballots to be received and counted in the days following the election. Furthermore, there are also no federal laws prohibiting or conflicting with Nevada's Mailbox Deadline Laws. On July 17, 2024, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint, finding that they lacked standing to sue. The court noted that existing Nevada law governed which ballots were counted in the 2024 election. UPDATE: The plaintiffs have appealed the July ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where the case is still pending. States United is providing pro bono co-counsel for Secretary Aguilar.

The ACLU of Nevada has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Citizen Outreach Foundation. The lawsuit seeks to remove over 11,000 registered voters from the voter rolls in Washoe County, seven of whom are ACLUNV members. The challenge is based on the use of the National Change of Address (NCOA) database, which the petitioners claim indicates that these voters no longer reside at their registered addresses. The ACLU of Nevada argues that this method of challenging voter eligibility is unlawful under both state and federal law, particularly because such voter roll purges cannot be conducted within 90 days of an election. Furthermore, the organization argues that removing voters solely based on NCOA data without personal knowledge of their residency violates Nevada’s legal standards. The ACLU is intervening to protect their right to vote and prevent unlawful disenfranchisement just weeks before the November 2024 presidential election. UPDATE: On October 11, 2024, the case was dismissed.

Citizen Outreach Foundation seeks to remove over 19,000 registered voters from the Clark County voter rolls ahead of the November 2024 presidential election. The removals are based on National Change of Address (NCOA) data, which they claim shows these individuals are no longer residing at their registered addresses. The ACLU of Nevada (ACLUNV) has filed a motion to intervene in the case, arguing that removing voters based solely on NCOA data violates both federal and state laws, which prevent systemic voter roll maintenance within 90 days of an election. The ACLU also argues that these challenges do not meet the requirements under Nevada law. At least fourteen ACLU members are among the voters being challenged. If the requested relief is granted, thousands of eligible voters could be wrongfully purged from the voter rolls, impairing their right to vote by mail or altogether disenfranchising them just weeks before the election. The organization further asserts that such a decision would set a dangerous precedent, leading to mass, arbitrary voter challenges. ACLUNV seeks to ensure that the voter roll maintenance laws are followed, safeguarding the right to vote for all eligible voters in Clark County.

During the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary, a nonpartisan observer who is also an ACLU of Nevada staff member was denied access to observe the election process by the Nye County Clerk's Office. The county implemented a policy that limited only one election observer per political affiliation, even when there was space available, violating Nevada law and the Nevada Constitution, which protects individuals’ right to observe voting, handling, and processing ballots. The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit against Nye County for violating these rights by prohibiting them from observing the voting process. Our Nevada Constitution protects the right to access to information and access to observe government activities, ensuring there is transparency in our democratic processes. This case seeks to affirm the rights of Nevadans to uphold election transparency and prevent viewpoint discrimination in our democracy.

ACLU of Nevada, alongside the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), filed an amicus brief asking the court to dismiss a case challenging Nevada's efforts to maintain its voter rolls. The case, Republican National Committee v. Aguilar, was filed against Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar by the Republican National Committee, the Nevada Republican Party, and a Nevada voter, claiming the state must be violating its obligations under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) because certain misleading metrics show more registered voters than eligible voters in some counties. The amicus brief explains that the lawsuit is based on deeply flawed and misleading metrics that have been pieced together by unreliable and inaccurate measures of voter registration rates and that have been repeatedly rebuked by federal courts. The voter registration numbers they rely on are taken from a single recent snapshot of the state's voter roll, but use an outdated census of the citizen voting age population for comparison. Unfortunately, this lawsuit is just one of several cases recently filed across the country with claims under the NVRA and is part of a years-long pattern to bully states into administering voter roll purges beyond what the law requires. Without proper guardrails, when states rush to purge voters, eligible voters, in many cases, are kicked off the rolls and disenfranchised. These lawsuits are based on false information and only erodes the public's trust and integrity in our elections.

In Nevada, people who are detained in a city or county jail are either pre-trial or serving a misdemeanor sentence and, therefore, have not lost their right to vote. Despite never losing this right, eligible voters detained in Nevada jails have continuously been denied meaningful access to the ballot box. Recognizing the unique constraints and widespread disenfranchisement of voters taking place in Nevada jails, the 2023 Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 286, mandating that jail administrators work with the city or county clerk to implement policies and procedures that would ensure eligible voters detained in these facilities can register to vote and cast their ballot in an election. Since the bill took effect on January 1, the ACLU of Nevada has been monitoring the implementation of the policies and procedures outlined in AB286, which should have been in place for the Presidential Preference Primary; however, public records requests revealed that the Elko County Jail had not implemented such policies and continues not to be compliant. ACLUNV attorneys sent a demand letter to the jail, urging them to be compliant with the law, or legal action would take place. The jail continues not to be compliant. Without the implementation of these policies and procedures as outlined in the bill, eligible voters detained in Elko County Jail will continue to be disenfranchised and have their voices silenced ahead of a critical election year. UPDATE: On May 29, 2024, ACLU of Nevada and Elko County reached a settlement, and the jail is now fully compliant with AB286.

On Oct. 4, 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit against Nye County to prevent the county from moving forward with its proposed unlawful hand-counting scheme during this year’s elections. We are representing Nye County voters who risk having their freedom to vote suppressed by the county’s proposed procedures for this year’s election. The case is ACLU of Nevada v. Nye County, Case No. CV22-0503. We are asking the Fifth Judicial District court to prohibit the county from publicly announcing the selected candidates on each ballot prior to the close of polls on Election Day, from limiting the use of ADA touch screens to individuals with so-called “special needs,” from allowing election workers to ask about a voter’s disability or turn away otherwise eligible voters based on arbitrary decision making, and from using “stringent signature verifications” that violate state law. UPDATE: On November 15, 2022, the Supreme Court of Nevada denied issuing a ruling to stop Nye County from conducting a hand-count of ballots received in the 2022 midterm election.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada Foundation seeks to restore the ability of North Las Vegas residents to elect a municipal court judge of their choosing. On Feb. 17, the city of North Las Vegas adopted Ordinance No. 3060, creating a new municipal court department and appointing a judge, Christopher Lee, to a 6-year term without any election. The ordinance directly violates the North Las Vegas City Charter, approved by the Nevada Legislature, which mandates that when the city appoints a judge to fill a vacant position in the Municipal Court, “[n]o such appointment extends beyond the first day of the month following the next general municipal election, at which election the office must be filled for the remaining unexpired term.” The next elections to be held in the City of North Las Vegas are scheduled for June and November of 2022, 4 years and two full election cycles before the appointment described in Ordinance No. 3060 ends. In its writ, the ACLU of Nevada is asking the court to require the city to hold an election for Municipal Court Department 1 during the 2022 election cycle as required by the North Las Vegas City Charter.