Feb. 10 Letter
Feb. 10 Letter
Judith Whitmer
Chair, Nevada State Democratic Party
2310 Paseo del Prado, Suite A120
Las Vegas, Nevada 89102
We write as members of the Nevada State Democratic Central Committee (the “State
Central Committee”) to express our continued concerns regarding the election
procedures being utilized by the Nevada State Democratic Party (the “NSDP”). As
outlined below, the procedures and surrounding actions raise serious concerns regarding
the impartiality and validity of the upcoming election. Immediate action is required to
ensure a truly democratic election takes place.
At the Monday, January 30th meeting of the State Central Committee’s Executive
Committee (the “E-Board”), the E-Board voted to adopt certain procedures for
conducting NSDP elections electronically. You also appointed a committee of three
individuals to oversee these procedures. However, the proposed election procedures
would violate multiple provisions of the NSDP Charter and Bylaws.
1. Hundreds of members appear to have been removed from the State Central
Committee roster with no notice or explanation.
On Wednesday, February 8th – the day that the filing period for NSDP officer candidates
ended – the NSDP published a document titled “2022-2024 State Central Committee (As
of 12/4/2022).” This document omitted the names of hundreds of individuals who were
members in good standing of the State Central Committee as of the end of 2022. Without
transparent access to SCC meeting attendance records, there is no way for independent
verification of whether members in good standing were improperly removed. Without
any NSDP communication even attempting to provide notices of warning or removal to
SCC members, this raises even more questions.
Pursuant to the NSDP Charter and Bylaws, candidates for NSDP office must immediately
be provided attendance information from the 2022 State Convention and past two State
Central Committee meetings, as well as evidence that all members received notice of the
meetings held in September 2022 and December 2022.
The failure to provide this information despite our previous request raises serious
concerns, given that more than 230 members of the State Central Committee have
suddenly been removed from the membership roster just as the candidate filing period
ended. This purge of roughly 40 percent of the State Central Committee membership as
of the end of last year – following repeated failures to properly deliver meeting
registration information to members, and just a few weeks before the NDSP officer
elections are scheduled to take place – is deeply alarming and raises serious doubts about
the integrity of the upcoming election.
2. The procedures approved by the E-Board fail to address past issues with
electronic voting in NSDP elections.
The election procedures themselves also violate the NSDP Charter and Bylaws, which
provide that electronic participation in NSDP meetings and elections must be “subject to
the adoption by the SCC of appropriate rules and procedures to ensure fair and maximum
participation.” Article III, Section 4, Bylaw D, Subsection vi. In our previous letter, we
noted that there have been numerous instances of deliverability issues with the email
voting system used by the NSDP, resulting in State Central Committee members not
receiving the emails necessary for them to cast their votes. These issues have directly
resulted in the disenfranchisement of State Central Committee members.
The proposed procedures provide only that “[t]he election shall be conducted by
non-secret, digitally-signed ballot, with the validity of each vote verified by name and
electronic credentialing or declared void,” without providing any additional detail. In
particular, the procedures fail to provide any information regarding the type of electronic
voting system being used, how ballots will be digitally signed, how ballots will be
tracked and counted, how individual votes will be made public, or how deliverability
issues will be avoided. The proposed procedures therefore fail to ensure fair and
maximum participation, in violation of the Charter and Bylaws.
3. The proposed election procedures fail to lay out how the election will comply
with provisions of the NSDP and DNC bylaws prohibiting secret ballots.
As we noted in our previous letter, the Bylaws of both the NSDP and DNC explicitly
require that votes may not be taken by secret ballot. The proposed procedures reference
non-secret voting, but fail to set forth how the NSDP will make public which State
Central Committee members cast a vote and for whom.
2
4. NSDP officers are currently using NSDP resources to promote their own
reelection.
In the last week, current NSDP officers have used a wide array of NSDP resources –
including the official NSDP Twitter account 1, official NSDP email list 2, and official
NSDP press releases 3 – to promote their own reelection.
The misuse of resources by NSDP officers not only undermines the impartial
administration of the upcoming elections, but also undermines confidence among both
State Central Committee members and the public regarding the integrity of the NSDP as
an institution.
These actions constitute direct violations of the NSDP’s Charter and Bylaws, and
raise serious questions regarding the integrity of upcoming NSDP elections. We
therefore demand that: (1) all candidates for NSDP office immediately be provided
with detailed attendance information from the 2022 NSDP State Convention and
past two State Central Committee meetings; (2) new election procedures be drafted
that comply with the NSDP and DNC Charter and Bylaws; and (3) NSDP officers
immediately cease using NSDP resources to promote their own campaigns.
Sincerely,
Jessica Adair
Sam Barrett
Travis Brock
Bonnie Brown
Paul Catha
Austin Daly
Gabriela Everrett
Martin Fitzgerald
Kelly Fitzpatick
Chris Giunchigliani
Linda Harlow
Zoe Houghton
Mikey Kelly
1
https://twitter.com/nvdems/status/1623792355454357505.
2
https://mailchi.mp/nvdems/nv-dems-sotu-watch-party-invites-15803010.
3
https://twitter.com/nvdems/status/1623792351809519616.
3
Zack Khan
Matt Kimball
Carol Little
Deborah Lomando
Danna Lovell
Nohely Mariscal
Marty McGarry
Courtney McKimmey
Chris Miller
Francisco Morales
Andres Orellana
Reeves Oyster
Mark Riffenburg
Cris Romero
Vince Saavedra
Julia Salas
Andrew Sierra
Paul Smith
Izack Tenorio
Taylor Thompson
Marla Turner
Dennis Walters
Kristee Watson
Jennifer Wegmann-Gabb
Donna West
Chelsey Winninger
Yusuf Wyatt