Nevada Election Chief Prepares for Potential ‘Havoc’

Nevada's top election official, Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, is preparing for an unprecedented Election Day, anticipating potential interference from the Trump administration, including the descent of immigration agents on polling locations and attempts to seize ballots.

Aguilar told TIME that his office is bracing for a high probability of the federal government challenging election results in the state. Nevada, a perennial swing state, has been a focus of increased federal scrutiny. Aguilar's office has received seven voter-related subpoenas from the Department of Justice this year, and he has been informed he is personally under investigation by the DOJ.

"If this administration chooses to challenge the elections, yes, we are preparing for it," Aguilar stated. "We know it's a very high probability."

In anticipation of federal agents attempting to seize ballots, Aguilar's office has developed a pre-drafted legal filing, described as a "Mad Libs" document, enabling them to file lawsuits within seconds if such an event occurs. Former President Donald Trump has previously declined to rule out actions such as declaring a national emergency or sending ICE agents to polling stations around midterm elections.

Voter Fraud Allegations Debunked

Aguilar's preparations come amid persistent claims by the Trump administration regarding non-citizens registered to vote. In July, Trump alleged that approximately 278,000 non-citizens were registered to vote in federal elections, with 16,000 in Nevada alone. Aguilar stated that this number has significantly decreased with each official inquiry.

Nevada has expressed concerns over the accuracy and data privacy of the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, refusing to upload sensitive voter information. This stance follows instances in other states where citizens were mistakenly identified as non-citizens using the SAVE system.

During a Zoom call with DHS officials, one representative struggled to substantiate the numbers, admitting that a full manual review of the 16,000 Nevada voters identified as non-citizens had not been conducted. DHS officials later stated that the list of potential noncitizens on Nevada's voter rolls was reduced to 185, though they could not provide the list of names at the time. After receiving an incomplete dataset from DHS, Nevada officials found that every individual on the list was a U.S. citizen.

"Our records indicate that they were citizens. You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise," wrote Nevada's deputy attorney general, Greg D. Ott, in a response to DHS. A DHS spokesperson disputed this characterization, asserting that the 185 voters represented a subset that had undergone a rigorous manual review process.

Aguilar emphasized that voting as an ineligible person is a felony in Nevada and that his office awaits further information from DHS for proper analysis. "A third grader has to show more work in a math problem than DHS is having to show in challenging the citizenship of American citizens," Aguilar commented.

Expediting Ballot Counting

With early voting set to begin on October 17, Aguilar's office has instructed polling location managers to prepare for all scenarios and respond calmly. Nevada provides mail-in ballots to all registered voters, with 86% of Nevadans having used them in recent election cycles.

Aguilar encourages voters concerned about in-person voting to utilize mail-in ballots for convenience and safety. He is also urging counties to report results as quickly as possible to minimize the time available for the federal government to create narratives that could foster chaos.

Judicial pushback against federal interference in election processes is ongoing. A federal judge recently dismissed a DOJ lawsuit seeking voter information from Georgia, marking the 26th loss for the Trump administration in such efforts. Additionally, a civil rights organization is pursuing legal action to prevent ICE agents from appearing at polling places.

Aguilar stated the importance of having a strategic response to maintain confidence in the election system. "It is unfortunate that we have to prepare for this, because we can't take anything lightly."