Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls
The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) has filed a legal petition in Clark County, Nevada, urging local officials to investigate and rectify voter registrations associated with non-residential addresses such as strip clubs, casinos, and even the Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport. PILF’s investigation discovered multiple instances where voters were registered at clearly commercial locations that could not serve as residences. The foundation argues that this undermines the integrity of the voter rolls, particularly in light of Nevada’s expansion of mail-in voting in 2021, which mandates that mail-in ballots be sent automatically to all registered voters. The legal action aims to compel election officials to verify and correct these addresses to ensure compliance with state laws that require voters to register from their actual residential addresses. This issue appears to extend beyond Clark County, touching other areas including Washoe County. PILF has expressed concern through various means, including direct communication attempts with local election officials and a public awareness campaign highlighting the discrepancies through video interviews at questionable registration addresses. Despite these efforts, PILF claims that their requests for investigation have been ignored, prompting the need for legal intervention.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a petition to compel officials in Clark County, Nevada, which contains Las Vegas, to investigate and correct voter rolls.
PILF found hundreds of voters were registered to receive mail-in ballots at addresses including strip clubs, casinos, and even the Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport, so it is taking action to make Nevada officials investigate incorrect addresses on the state’s voter rolls.
“In Clark County, people are registered to vote from strip clubs, casinos, gas stations, and more crazy addresses where it appears no one could reasonably live,” said Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams in a press release. “We are asking the court to force Nevada election officials to investigate any improper commercial addresses on the voter roll.”
PILF filed a petition for mandamus on June 25 in the 8th District Court for the State of Nevada as part of a lawsuit. The move would force election officials in Clark County to investigate commercial addresses on voter rolls and make corrections where needed.
The number of suspicious addresses on the state voter rolls is alarming because Nevada expanded mail-in voting in 2021, requiring county clerks to automatically send mail-in ballots to each registered voter. State law requires citizens to register to vote from the address where they reside.
Lauren Bis, director of communications and engagement for PILF, approached a bartender in a YouTube video of the investigation.
“I was looking for Ronald or William Phelps,” Bis said.
“I don’t know who that is,” the bartender replied.
“So they don’t live here?” Bis asked.
“At the bar? No,” the bartender said.
Bis interviewed several individuals at locations such as restaurants, casinos, and jails to ask if the voter registered at the address actually lives there. The answers in the video were a resounding no.
Members of PILF wrote Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo on June 3 asking her to investigate the address discrepancies, according to the petition. But the group alleges she never responded, causing harm to the public.
A Statewide Issue
PILF also found address discrepancies in Washoe County, which contains Reno and part of Lake Tahoe, so the group filed a similar petition in May.
County election officials automatically sent more than 95,500 ballots to “undeliverable or ‘bad’ address[es]” across Nevada in the 2022 Senate race between Republican Adam Laxalt and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, PILF previously found. Masto won that race by a margin of fewer than 8,000 votes.
The group also discovered Clark County sent more than 92,300 ballots to wrong or out-of-date addresses in the 2020 presidential election. Now-President Joe Biden won the state by fewer than 33,600 votes.
Even as far back as the 2020 primary, PILF found more than 223,000 ballots went to the wrong addresses in Clark County. More than 93,500 — or 42% — of these were listed as “active” registrants.
“We must have this fixed before the 2024 election,” Adams said. “Otherwise, some of these strip clubs and casinos will receive ballots in the mail.”
Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.
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