Sharron Angle files lawsuit challenging expanded mail-in voting
Sharron Angle, a Republican former assemblywoman and failed U.S. Senate candidate, has filed a lawsuit against Nevada’s Republican secretary of state in an attempt to stop the planned expansion of mail-in voting for the 2020 election.
The Election Integrity Project of Nevada, a vote-monitoring nonprofit group closely linked to Angle, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Clark County District Court. An emergency hearing has been set for Oct. 8.
The 27-page complaint argues that any vote cast by Angle or others will be “diluted and compromised” if the law created by AB4, which allows for expanded mail-in voting during emergencies such as the pandemic, is carried out for the upcoming general election. The bill passed along party lines during a special legislative session and was signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak.
The lawsuit, which names Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske as the defendant, contends the law contains unfunded mandates and other unconstitutional provisions that, ultimately, will affect voters like Angle.
“Plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law and will suffer serious and irreparable harm by transferring almost the entire burden of funding the all mail-in ballot election costs, which will result in either an increased tax burden or a decrease in county services to the Plaintiff Sharron Angle unless Defendant is enjoined from implementing and enforcing AB4,” the complaint states.
It also asserts that the law puts voters’ constitutional rights at stake because of an “unequal” geographic allocation of in-person voting sites, no statewide uniform standards for counting or recounting ballots and what the plaintiffs believe is an increased risk of voter fraud.
This lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar legal challenge filed by President Donald Trump’s campaign, which is still pending in federal court