Voting Rights Win in Secretary of State Race

LAS VEGAS — While counting continues, it has become clear that Cisco Aguilar will be Nevada’s next Secretary of State.

This year, many eyes turned to the role of the Secretary of State as the chief election official in many crucial states. The emergence of the “Big Lie” and the false narrative of illegitimate electoral results in the 2020 election led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, unnecessary electoral audits, and served as a pretext to enact voter suppression laws throughout the country.

Across the U.S., the ACLU engaged with voters to emphasize and prioritize candidate commitments to free and fair elections, focusing in on Arizona, Minnesota, and Nevada, to make sure voters know about the critical civil rights issues on the ballot.

ACLU of Nevada PAC worked specifically to educate voters in the Silver State about the important issues at stake in the Secretary of State race, reaching hundreds of thousands of Nevada voters via digital, mail, and texting programs.

ACLU of Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah said:

“Nevada voters made their voices loud and clear, rejecting the “Big Lie” and the dangerous voter fraud myth that led to an insurrection at the Capitol. This election, the people of Nevada showed that we want to protect early voting, same-day registration, and voting by mail, while rejecting the notion that we need to adopt draconian ID laws and revert to obsolete and inaccurate methods of administering our elections.

"This election has also made it clear that we still have more work to do to protect our democracy. It’s imperative that we continue to modernize our elections and make sure they’re accessible to all voters, while simultaneously beating back attempts to destroy our democracy.

"In recent weeks, Nevadans have watched as one of our largest rural counties, Nye County, treated our elections like a middle school science fair, subjecting thousands of voters to needless experiments, like unsecure paper ballots and error-riddled hand counting, rooted in conspiracy theories and disinformation. We heard from voters across Nye County who have a genuine concern that their vote will not be counted.

"Nye County’s election administration has made it clear that Nevada needs strong leadership from its Secretary of State. Secretary-elect Aguilar during his campaign committed to protecting Nevada’s elections, whether in a city or a small town, and we look forward to working with him to make sure voting remains safe, secure, and accessible.”