Nevada secretary of state declines to lift hand-count ban

By GABE STERN
Associated Press/Report for America

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s secretary of state has declined to lift a ban on a rural county’s controversial hand-count of mail-in ballots. She informed Nye County officials late Friday the modified procedure the county clerk had proposed raises “concerns relating to the integrity of the election.” Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske ordered Nye County to halt it’s hand-counting of ballots last week until after polls close on Election Day. Her order came after the Nevada Supreme Court issued an opinion siding with the ACLU’s objections to the reading of individual votes aloud. Her rejection of a new silent hand-count plan makes it nearly impossible for the hand-count to resume until after Election Day.