Attorneys for the Nevada Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign expect a Monday decision on a potentially major lawsuit challenging Clark County’s mail ballot processing and poll observation procedures.

During a press call Friday arranged by the Trump campaign, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt and attorney Jesse Binnall — who argued the case in Carson City District Court earlier this week — said they received a “very unusual email” from the court clerk on Thursday evening saying that Judge James Wilson had made his decision in the case.

But Binnall said that the court clerk requested that attorneys for all parties respond within a short window of time, or else the decision would be published Monday morning. Friday is a court holiday (Nevada Day, observed).

“The court has now made its decision, entered an order,” he said. “None of us know how the court has ruled. (Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe) Gloria will get to work throughout the weekend on matching ballots with no checks and balances, and no meaningful observation, before we actually know how the court has ruled.”

A court order halting use of an automated signature verification machine could cause bottlenecking in the counting of ballots in Clark County; Gloria told the court he was fairly confident that the county could not complete ballot canvassing (counting of votes) by the deadline set in state law if use of the machine was prohibited so close to the election. Binnall said during a previous hearing that it’s “more important that we get this right, than we get it quick.”

As of Friday afternoon, more than 340,000 mail ballots have been received by Clark County election officials, according to a tally by the secretary of state’s office.

Laxalt, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018 and is now co-chair of the Trump campaign in Nevada, added that it was “very, very out of the ordinary” for a judge to request attorneys on a legal case to agree to the release of an opinion beforehand.

“There is no situation that I'm aware of, or any lawyer I've spoken to, where a judge writes an opinion, and then the parties are supposed to agree to releasing the opinion,” he said.

Had an order been issued after-hours on Thursday, neither party would be able to file an emergency appeal with the state’s Supreme Court until three days later on Monday, owing to the state holiday.

The state Republican Party and Trump campaign filed their lawsuit one week ago on Oct. 27, alleging a variety of faults and lack of transparency in Clark County’s processes for allowing poll observers at ballot processing sites, asking for an immediate and temporary halt to the processing of mail ballots until the issues could be resolved.  

Wilson, the judge assigned the case in Carson City District Court, initially denied an emergency request for a temporary restraining order last Friday, and held a nearly nine-hour evidentiary hearing on the case on Wednesday. 

Attorneys for the Trump campaign presented multiple volunteer poll observers as witnesses who outlined concerns about not being able to see all aspects of the ballot counting procedures and potential issues with signature verification; attorneys for Clark County and the state said the claims generally lacked standing, and that the counting was fulfilling all requirements under law.

The state Republican Party and Trump campaign have also filed a separate lawsuit in Clark County District Court, over an alleged failure from county officials to fulfill an expansive records request related to mail-in voting processes and procedures, which included a request for every Clark County voter’s signature on their returned ballot and a copy of whatever signature on file that was used to check signatures.

That case is scheduled for a hearing on Monday afternoon.