Tag: Nevada

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Judge Rules Against Trump Attempt To Delay Counting Nevada Ballots

A District Court judge in Nevada has ruled against the Trump campaign and Nevada Republicans’ attempt to delay counting mail-in ballots in the Democratic stronghold of Clark County. The judge wrote in his decision that the plaintiffs failed to produce any evidence that would precipitate intervening in the counting of votes. From the Nevada Independent:

A District Court judge has again blocked efforts by President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and the Nevada Republican Party to delay the counting of mail ballots in populous Clark County over alleged issues with signature verification and observation plans — saying their claims largely lacked evidence or standing necessary for last-minute judicial intervention in the election process.

Carson City District Court Judge James Wilson issued the order Monday morning denying the request to halt mail ballot processing after a lengthy evidentiary hearing held telephonically last week. The decision ensures that Clark County — by far the largest county in the state — will continue its process for counting and processing the record number of mail ballots submitted for the 2020 election, without any delays that could potentially bottleneck results on Election Night.

Longtime Nevada political pundit Jon Ralston issued his prediction earlier this morning that Biden would carry the Silver State by about 4 points mainly due to a 90,000+ lead run up by Democrats in Clark County during early voting and mail-in ballots received.

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Las Vegas: Trump Campaign Sues To Stop Counting Mail-In Ballots

The Trump campaign and the Nevada GOP are attempting to stop the count of mail-in ballots in my home city of Las Vegas (Democratic stronghold Clark County) by suing the Nevada secretary of state and Clark County registrar on Friday. From The Hill:

The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 elections, says observers cannot get close enough to workers and machines as they tally votes in Nevada’s largest and most Democratic county, which includes the city of Las Vegas.

Republicans are arguing that observers cannot confirm that votes get second- and third-step validation, warning that the situation runs the risk of permitting fraudulent votes from being tabulated.

Judge James Wilson in Carson City later decided to not issue an immediate order to stop the count but did schedule a hearing on the issue set to take place next Wednesday.

The Nevada Democratic Party dismissed the lawsuit as an effort by Republicans to suppress the vote, casting it as a “desperate play.”

“This lawsuit from Trump and Republicans is nothing more than an obvious attempt to impede record-breaking momentum in Clark County, the most diverse county in the state,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy. “The demands articulated in the GOP’s lawsuit amount to voter suppression, plain and simple.”

Currently, 516,000+ ballots have been cast in Nevada in the 2020 general election. As you can see via the Secretary of State’s website, Democrats are voting by mail at more than twice the rate of Republicans. • 304,448 mail-in ballots – 160,125 received from registered Democrats; 74,384 from registered Republicans; 69,939 Other • 211,930 in-person votes have been cast – 70,504 by registered Democrats; 99,808 by registered Republicans; 41,618 Other

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Battleground State Polls: Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, Arizona

As always, we take polling with a grain of salt, but these battleground state polls may be of interest: • Pennsylvania – Monmouth University Polling – Joe Biden holds a 12-point lead over Donald Trump among all registered voters in Pennsylvania (54% – 42%) and anywhere from an 8-point to 11-point lead among likely voters. This marks an improvement from Biden’s single-digit lead in a Monmouth poll just over one month ago.

• Florida – University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab – 51 percent of voters indicated they will be voting for Joe Biden compared to 45 percent of voters who said they would vote for President Donald Trump. (3,142 registered likely voters – 39 percent Republican, 38 percent Democrat, and 22 percent signaled no party affiliation). • Nevada and Ohio – New York Times/Siena College Poll – Biden leads 48 percent to 42 percent among likely voters in Nevada and 45 to 44 percent in Ohio, the polls found. Six percent of Nevada voters and 7 percent of Ohioans said they remain undecided.

• Arizona – Data Orbital – Biden leads Trump 47.7 percent to 43.2 percent in Arizona, with 6.5 percent saying they were undecided. The poll included 39 percent Republicans and 33 percent Democrats.

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Fox News State Polls: Biden Ahead +11 In NV, +7 In PA, +5 In Ohio

L-R Former Vice President Joe Biden, Donald Trump
Let me start by pointing out this is a FOX News poll, ok…? From Fox News:

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to Fox News statewide likely voter surveys.

In each of the three states, majorities disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, pluralities say coronavirus is “not at all” under control, and Biden is the preferred choice when it comes to handling the virus. Plus, he’s favored over Trump to nominate the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.

There are few undecided voters, and Biden’s support is 50 percent or better in each state. His advantage over Trump is outside the margin of error in Nevada and Pennsylvania, but not Ohio.

Bolding is mine. NEVADA Biden: 52% Trump: 41% OHIO Biden: 50% Trump: 45% PENNSYLVANIA Biden: 51% Trump: 44% That said, this is totally NOT a done deal. We all need to get to the polls and cast our vote – either by mail or in person – by election day.

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Judge Throws Out Trump Lawsuit To Stop Mail-In Voting In Nevada

Donald Trump

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) lost today in a legal court fight meant to derail mail-in voting in Nevada for the 2020 presidential election. From Talking Points Memo:

U.S. District Judge James Mahan on Monday threw out the Trump campaign’s lawsuit over Nevada’s vote-by-mail measure that directs all local elections officials to send mail-in ballots to all of the registered voters in the state.

Mahan ruled that the Trump campaign, along with the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Nevada GOP, “make no showing” of an unfair advantage against GOP candidates caused by the measure, known as Assembly Bill 4 (AB 4).

The judge described the plaintiffs’ claims–that voting by mail hurts Republicans and that mail-in ballots illegally distort the vote count–as “generalized and speculative.”

“Plaintiffs never describe how their member voters will be harmed by vote dilution where other voters will not,” Mahan wrote. Republican candidates “face no harms that are unique from their electoral opponents.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked AB 4 in his attempts to undermine and suppress the vote in the battleground state. In sowing seeds of doubt, the Donald continually alleges – without any evidence – that Democrats (but not Republicans) would somehow cheat with mail-in voting. And yet the last time there was any voter fraud of note actually found, it was on behalf of a North Carolina Republican candidate back in 2018. Several states – including Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washington – have handled their elections via mail-in ballots for years with no irregularities reported.

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Trump: COVID-19 Restrictions Don’t Apply To Me

Donald Trump smirks during a press event

Donald Trump smirks during a press event
Donald Trump (photo: public domain/Flickr)
Donald Trump told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an interview Sunday that he doesn’t believe Nevada’s COVID-19 restrictions regarding large gatherings of over 50 people apply to him giving himself permission to hold his indoor rally in Henderson attended by a few thousand followers.

The president blamed the Democratic governor for forcing his campaign to abandon plans to hold an outdoor rally Sunday at Cirrus Aviation near McCarran International Airport and a Saturday rally in Reno, which was moved to an outdoor venue in Minden.

After failing to arrange alternative venues in the Las Vegas area, the campaign decided to hold the rally indoors at the Xtreme Manufacturing facility, owned by his friend Don Ahern, Trump said. “They canceled six different sites because the governor wouldn’t let it happen, all external sites,” the president said.

Henderson officials issued written and verbal warnings of compliance to the event organizers. Kathleen Richards, a spokeswoman for the city of Henderson, said in a statement “gatherings of more than 50 people in a private or public setting is prohibited.”

“If the governor’s directives are not followed,” she said, “the city may assess a fine of up to $500 per violation as well as suspend or revoke the business license.”

Sisolak was not targeting Trump in any way. Currently, no one is supposed to hold large gatherings of more than 50 people in Nevada. That’s the rule for everyone.

Sisolak clapped back in a lengthy thread on Twitter writing, “Tonight, President Donald Trump is taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada.”

“The president appears to have forgotten that this country is still in the middle of a global pandemic,” added Sisolak.

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Nevada: Trump Rallies Canceled Due To Coronavirus Restrictions

Donald Trump

Donald Trump during a White House press briefing (public domain)
After announcing two Nevada campaign rallies planned for this weekend, the Trump campaign has canceled the events due to current limitations on public gatherings imposed by Gov. Steve Sisolak since the spring in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. One event was scheduled for Saturday at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport and the other on Sunday at McCarran International Airport. Since late May, Nevada has limited the size of public gatherings to 50 people. Sisolak’s office on Wednesday issued a statement saying it was not involved in the cancellations. “The Governor’s Office had no involvement or communication with the event organizers or potential hosts regarding the proposed campaign events advertised by the Trump campaign. “Current statewide emergency directives include mandatory face coverings, limitations on public and private gatherings to no more than 50 people, and other measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The Nevada-specific White House recommendations have consistently included recommendations to limit the size of gatherings for weeks now.” Even though the governor’s restrictions have been in place for months, the Trump campaign announced Nevada visits on Tuesday. The campaign publicly whined that this is all an attempt to censor the Donald. “Democrats are trying to keep President Trump from speaking to voters because they know the enthusiasm behind his re-election campaign cannot be matched by Joe Biden — a historically weak candidate controlled by the radical left who could hold a campaign event in a broom closet,” read a statement issued by Tim Murtaugh, communications director of the president’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority said the rally would have violated the lease agreements that private tenants signed with the authority. “This has nothing to do with politics. The letter (to tenants) we sent is about directives and safety and not political campaigns,” Daren Griffin, president/CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We would hold our tenants to the same standard whether it was a Democratic or Republican rally or any other type of gathering. We are complying with the Governor’s directive and Washoe County’s recommendation during a pandemic.” “The fact that Donald Trump was even considering holding these unsafe events in the midst of a global pandemic is just the latest example of his poor judgment and complete disregard for Nevadans’ public health and safety,” said Madison Mundy, spokeswoman for the Nevada State Democratic Party. Poll crunching website FiveThirtyEight reports Biden currently leading Trump by an average of 6.5 percentage points in Nevada. (source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)

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Nevada: Governor Announces State Will Begin To Reopen

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has announced Nevada will begin the process of opening on Saturday, May 9, which is sooner than the anticipated date of May 15th. Sisolak announced an overall decreasing trend since April 21 of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU hospitalizations. “Our cumulative test positivity rate reached 12.2 percent on April 24 and has since decreased to 11.2 percent as of yesterday,” tweeted Sisolak. “When it comes to confirmed COVID hospitalizations, we’ve seen an overall decreasing trend since April 21, a total of more than 14 days.” Allowed in Phase 1 of Reopening:

-Restaurants can open for dine-in, but employees must wear face coverings. Reservations must be required, spacing must be 6 feet apart, and bar areas will remain closed. People waiting to be seated must wait outside.

-Barbershops may open by appointment only with chairs 6 feet apart. Only one customer per stylist and partitions in between chairs are encouraged.  Employees must wear face coverings.

-Retail stores may reopen but can only allow 50% capacity. Open-air malls may reopen, but indoor malls must remain closed although curbside pickup at indoor mall stores is allowed.

-Auto dealers can open, appointments encouraged. Showrooms can be open but only allow 50% capacity.

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Nevada Governor Orders 30-Day Closure Of Non-Essential Business

From my state of Nevada… The Hill reports:

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced a statewide closure of all “nonessential” businesses for 30 days amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at a press conference in Carson City, Sisolak said the closure would apply to all casinos, restaurants, bars and other nonessential businesses. The move followed the statewide closing of K-12 schools that the governor ordered on Sunday.

“Every social contact increases your threat of exposure. The bigger the group, the higher the risk,” said Sisolak. 

Fifty-five coronavirus cases have been reported thus far in Nevada. One person has died in the state.

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Bernie Sanders Projected Winner Of Nevada Caucuses

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been projected to win the Nevada Democratic caucuses. Sanders will now be able to boast he received the most votes in all the first three contests, he has the most delegates, and that he has widened his appeal beyond just white voters. The race now moves to South Carolina’s primary to be held Saturday, February 28, where the Real Clear Politics average of polls shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading by 3.7 percent over Sanders. UPDATE: The results are slowly coming in (not Iowa slow, but slow) but here’s where things stand at 60 percent results tabulated: