Less than one month before Nevada’s presidential primaries, poll worker positions in some counties remain unfilled, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Clark County has about 100 unfilled poll worker jobs out of the roughly 3,000 total positions. In Douglas County, about half of the poll worker positions are unfilled, which amounts to roughly 60 jobs. The shortage comes after an exodus of election workers due to the unprecedented rise in threats against workers in the aftermath of the 2020 election. The threats were fueled by false claims of widespread voter fraud.

In a Wednesday morning press conference, Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and Attorney General Aaron Ford, both Democrats, outlined how the state is hoping to bring on more poll workers and address complaints of electoral misconduct.

Aguilar said he has spoken with several board members of the State Bar of Nevada to allow licensed attorneys to become poll workers as part of their continuing legal education requirements. The board is scheduled to meet next week. Such initiatives are already in place in states including Ohio and Kentucky.

“If Nevada incentivizes lawyers to volunteer as poll workers, they can bring with them their expertise and the authority of the law,” Aguilar told reporters.

Aguilar also said his office is working with counties to fill poll worker gaps, but he did not disclose specifics.

A September report from Issue One, a “crosspartisan” group that pushes for political and electoral reforms, found that 96 percent of Nevadans will see the 2024 election administered by someone different than the official who oversaw the 2020 vote. Across 11 Western states analyzed in the report, election officials who departed had more than 1,800 years of combined experience.

Deanna Spikula, who was the Washoe County registrar during the 2020 election, resigned in part because of death threats she faced after the election. Her replacement, Jamie Rodriguez, resigned last week to pursue “opportunities outside elections,” and the new registrar will be appointed at the county commission meeting next week.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Aguilar and Ford also discussed how their offices are handling election security ahead of the three statewide elections this year.

For this year’s elections, the secretary of state’s office has two civil investigators and one criminal investigator who will focus on reports of election law violations. After cases are investigated, they will be sent to the attorney general’s office for possible prosecution.

The state will also release quarterly reports on the status of elections investigations, and state law enforcement officials will be on the ground during this year’s elections to investigate complaints of election integrity violations, Ford said.

The office found no evidence of wrongdoing in 84 percent of those reports, and some cases are still being investigated.

Since 2020, 14 election integrity violations have been referred to the attorney general’s office for potential prosecution.

“The 2024 elections will be free, fair and safe,” Ford said.

This story was updated at 4:45 p.m. on 1/10/24 to include information about reports of election integrity violations that are still under investigation.