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Commission hears competing views on hand‑count plan; board agrees to refine and seek state guidance
Summary
Proponents presented a Missouri‑style hand‑count plan for November ballots; election experts and civic groups warned hand counts can be slow and error‑prone. Commissioners agreed to refine the county proposal and pursue clarification from the Secretary of State and the legislature where necessary.
Mary Ellen Burkhart, who drafted a county hand‑count plan patterned on the Missouri protocol, told commissioners the county can submit a paper‑ballot hand‑count plan under Nevada statutes but that the state rules make the process difficult for large jurisdictions. "Nevada statutes currently allow for the use of paper ballots in the hand count process to determine election results," Burkhart said, and she described procedural forms and training elements she included in the plan.
Supporters argued hand counts would increase voter confidence and resilience to machine or network failures; opponents, including All Voting is Local Action and Silver State Voices, urged caution. An online commenter cited FEMA/CISA guidance on DDoS and infrastructure threats but election‑process experts and civic groups supplied data showing hand counting can be slow and introduce human error. Commissioners agreed to condense the plan into a submission the county could present to the Secretary of State or request a statutory/regulatory change, and asked staff to coordinate outreach to the state and legislative representatives.
