The Republican National Committee alongside the Trump presidential campaign filed a lawsuit on Friday against Nevada for allowing mail-in ballots that arrive up to four days after Election Day to be counted.
The suit, also joined by the Nevada Republican Party, is challenging a Nevada law that says mail-in ballots can be counted if they are postmarked before the end of the day on Election Day and arrive up to four days after the election. According to the suit, this law violates federal election law and disproportionately harms Republicans.
“Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline clearly violates federal law and undermines election integrity in the state. Ballots received days after Election Day should not be counted — the RNC and our partners are suing to secure an honest election, support Nevada voters, and oppose unlawful schemes,” said RNC Chair Michael Whatley.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Nevada, the suit names Democratic Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and the county clerks and registers of Washoe and Clark County.
One issue raised in the lawsuit is the provision of Nevada law that allows ballots with illegible postmarks to be counted. The suit pointed to a provision of Nevada law saying that a “mail ballot shall be deemed to have been postmarked on or before the day of the election” if the postmark cannot be read and it was received before 5 p.m. the third day after election day.
“The result of Nevada’s violation of federal law is that timely, valid ballots are diluted by untimely, invalid ballots, which violates the rights of candidates, campaigns, and voters under federal law,” the suit says. “Counting mail ballots received after Election Day doesn’t just dilute the valid ballots — it specifically and disproportionately harms Republican candidates and voters.”
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The suit hopes to block state election officials from counting ballots that are received after election day for the November 2024 election.
“Our office will not comment on ongoing litigation, but I hope the RNC is putting as much time and energy into educating voters on how to participate in elections as they put into suing the state of Nevada,” Aguilar said in response to the suit’s filing.
The suit is the latest RNC effort to challenge state election laws ahead of the 2024 election with Nevada expected to be closely contested by both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.