“I don’t have time to figure out if this is right or this is wrong,” Andriola remembers thinking at the time. Maybe it was best to “let it go to people who have the authority, jurisdiction & time to do it right.”
And so she voted no. As far as anyone could determine, it was the first time since #Nevada became a state in 1864 that a county there had refused to #certify an #election.
The commissioners’ duty to #certify, though, was entirely “ministerial” — #election #certification was not an endorsement of the process or the outcome, merely another step in passing the results up through the system. They were legally obligated to certify even if they did see problems. They could note clerical errors—the rules vary from state to state—but once they noted them, they still had to pass the results up the line. This was just the basic admin work of running a #democracy.
The stories did not add up to any clear theory…, but the community had come to believe that #democracy was threatened & that there was only one way to save it: They wanted Andriola to #vote w/her 2 #Republican colleagues to deny her own victory.
Andriola took her #legal duty to #certify #elections seriously, & the stakes of her decision reached…beyond #Nevada. Like thousands of admins around the country, #WashoeCounty commissioners are charged w/certifying elections…
The commission was required by #law to #certify elections…, from local primary to presidential #election. What came next should have been a simple administrative procedure.
But the…crowd had other ideas. For 3hrs, they told stories of a primary gone wrong. Some raised concerns about small bureaucratic errors, like improperly addressed ballots. Others shared more exotic allegations, incl’g an unsubstantiated rumor circulating on #X about a Serbian scheme to manipulate voting machines.
The Army of #Election Officials Ready to Reject the Vote
A movement driven by #disinformation about #Trump’s 2020 defeat has taken over many of the boards that #certify elections. It could cause #chaos in the weeks ahead.
By Jim Rutenberg
#law #ElectionLaw #VotingRights #VoterSuppression #ElectionInterference #ElectionSubversion #BigLie #MediaLiteracy #Propaganda #MAGA #Republicans #hate #discrimination #racism #Vote #VoteBlue #HarrisWalz2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/magazine/far-right-election-results.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
A county judge in #Georgia has rejected an argument by allies of #Trump that local election ofcls have the power to refuse to #certify #election results, finding the process to be mandatory & one that must meet critical deadlines.
The ruling cuts at the heart of a key argument from #RightWing activists following the 2020 election, when Trump sought to disrupt the #certification process as part of his bid to subvert the results.
#law #ElectionLaw #VoteBlue
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/us/elections/georgia-election-ruling.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
#Election boards in #Georgia must #certify the state’s election results, judge says
A #FultonCounty judge appeared unlikely to toss out a new rule by the State Election Board requiring county ofcls to investigate election results, but he said they must certify them.
In 2 preelection trials Tues, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said state #law requires county election boards to certify results one week after Election Day.
#law #ElectionLaw
https://www.ajc.com/politics/judge-georgia-election-certification-is-required-despite-new-rule/WHNJ3VH25BCATOGJAS55TGINFQ/
Georgia governor inquires whether he can remove MAGA election board members after series of alarming votes
Donald Trump recently praised the right-wing coalition on the Georgia state election board
Georgia's Republican Governor #Brian #Kemp asked Attorney General Christopher Carr for “guidance” on whether he can remove members of the state election board, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
This comes 
after three right-wing members of the five-person board championed and #passed a series of new rules that add #extra #requirements for county election boards to #certify their results.
Under the rules passed this month
— less than 100 days before election day on November 5
— county boards must make a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying the election.
However, the rules do not define what an inquiry should involve or what “reasonable” means, according to the Journal-Constitution.
County election boards are also required to hold a meeting to verify their vote count on the Friday after election day -- which is before the ballot return deadline for voters overseas and in the military
️
#DavidHancock, an #election official in Gwinnett County, just outside #Atlanta, is at the center of the #certification refusal movement in his state.
"At this moment there are NO guidelines on what is required to #certify an election in #Georgia," Hancock wrote on his FB page in late May. "But some of us are working to change that. Stand by."
"I think we are going to see mass refusals to #certify the #election" in November, says #Democratic election #lawyer @marcelias. "Everything we are seeing about this election is that the other side is more organized, more ruthless, & more prepared."
#Certification of #election results is what #legal experts consider a "ministerial task," & one required by state & local #law. But as #Trump's #lies about the #2020election have taken hold, #Republicans nationwide have decided that certification provides them an opportunity to hear fraud allegations - & refuse to officially count their local #votes. Republicans have refused to #certify election results at least 25 times since Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe #Biden.
In the swing states of #Arizona, #Georgia, #Michigan, #Nevada, #NorthCarolina, & #Pennsylvania, Rolling Stone & American Doom identified at least 70 pro-#Trump election #conspiracists currently working as county #ElectionOfficials who have questioned the validity of elections or delayed or refused to #certify results. At least 22 of these county #election officials have refused or delayed #certification in recent years.
When #election night comes in November, it will be up to thousands of local #ElectionOfficials to #certify election results in their counties. Among those election ofcls are scores of #Trump supporters who believe his #lies & #ConspiracyTheories about stolen elections - & will be in prime position to act on those beliefs to try to [illegally] aid his campaign in November.
#Nevada #GOP #officials set "Unlawful", "dangerous" #precedent by #refusing to #certify #election #results.
A #Republican #majority in #WashoeCounty is #refusing to #certify multiple #races, citing #unfounded #irregularities
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Nevada #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #RepublicanParty #ThePartyOfHate
Forget the #HeritageFoundation, this is terrifying:
#Trump’s “declared intention, if reelected, (is) to ‘create a new #credentialing body’ within the #federal #government that would be ‘the gold standard, anywhere in the world, to #certify #teachers who embrace patriotic values to support our way of life, & understand that their job is not to #indoctrinate #children, but very simply to educate them.’”
#CultureWars #education
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/05/trump-federal-teacher-credentials/
California bar suspends 1,600 attorneys for violating rules set up after Tom Girardi allegedly stole millions
More than 1,600 attorneys have been #suspended by the #California #State #Bar for violating rules about client trust accounts that were set up after disgraced L.A. attorney Thomas Girardi allegedly stole millions of dollars from his clients.
The #Client #Trust #Account #Protection #Program, which went into effect last year, requires attorneys to #register their client trust accounts annually with the state bar, complete a yearly #self-#assessment of their practices managing client trust accounts and #certify with the state bar that they #comply and understand the #requirements for #safekeeping #funds.
After the reporting component is fulfilled, the state bar will then begin compliance reviews and investigative audits when appropriate.
Originally, more than 1,700 attorneys were found in violation of the rules and enrolled as “inactive” with the bar, meaning they’re not legally allowed to practice law. As of Thursday afternoon, that number has dropped to 1,641 after some of the attorneys fulfilled their requirements, according to Special Counsel Steven Moawad, who works for the bar’s attorney #discipline #system.
