LAS VEGAS — The ACLU of Nevada Monday filed a lawsuit against Elko County for failing to comply with a Nevada election law as well as an amicus brief advocating against mass voter purges.
Monday’s legal filing comes after the jail was sent a demand letter for failing to comply with Assembly Bill 286, which mandates that jail administrators implement policies and procedures to ensure eligible voters detained in the facility can register to vote and cast a ballot. Other jails statewide are changing their policies to comply with the law after receiving similar demand letters from ACLU of Nevada. Public records received by the nonprofit show the Elko County Jail is not in compliance and not taking steps to remedy those deficiencies.
ACLU of Nevada attorneys have been monitoring the implementation of AB286 since the law went into effect January 1. The case is ACLU of Nevada v. Elko County, case No. DC-CV-24-55.
The nonpartisan nonprofit also filed an amicus brief Friday alongside the Campaign Legal Center urging the court to dismiss a case that seeks to force the Nevada Secretary of State’s office to conduct more aggressive removal of voters from the rolls than federal law requires. That case is Republican National Committee v. Aguilar, case No. 2:21-cr-00323-CDS-DJA-1.
ACLU of Nevada Voting Rights Attorney Sadmira Ramic said:
“People who are incarcerated in county and city jails retain their constitutional right to vote. AB286 was specifically designed to curtail the disenfranchisement that people detained in these jails experience during our elections. The refusal to comply with the parameters of AB286 is a disservice to our democracy. Anyone who maintains a lawful right to vote shouldn’t be denied that right.”
About the case
In Nevada, people who are incarcerated in city and county jails are being held pre-trial or are serving a misdemeanor sentence and have not lost their right to vote. The 2023 Nevada Legislature passed AB286, which requires jail administrators to establish policies that ensure eligible voters detained in jails may register to vote and vote in an election to curtail the disenfranchisement these individuals experience due to a lack of access to the ballot box.
Since the bill took effect January 1, the requirements should have been in place for the February 2024 Presidential Preference Primary. Through public records requests, the ACLU of Nevada learned not a single jail was fully compliant with the law, continuing to disenfranchise eligible voters who are detained in jails. ACLUNV attorneys sent demand letters to the jails, demanding they comply, or litigation would entail.
