We witnessed election denial in 2020 when local officials refused to certify the election. Given that more than two dozen local officials across the country have refused to certify federal elections in recent years, we may have a problem. However, election experts say officials in swing states are ready to stop attempts to deny certification.

Most Americans are done with the chaos and violence that followed Joe Biden’s victory over Donald J. Trump. Yet this time, using Nevada as an example, conspiracy denialism will not work.

NPR reports:

Washoe County is home to approximately half a million residents and borders Lake Tahoe. The county seat, Reno, calls itself “the greatest little city in the world” and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains this time of year. In July, Washoe County commissioners voted 3-2 against certifying the recount of the results of two primary elections.

No one here remembers that local officials previously denied certification in Nevada. According to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office, election certification is simply an administrative task with no discretion over how to vote. Any concerns about the election results can be taken to court.

But several Washoe commissioners expressed concerns about how the election was run.

“I’m not going to co-sign this,” Republican Commissioner Mike Clark said at a public meeting at the time. “I’m not going to say how great it was because I don’t believe it.”

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol, March 7.
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Members of the public, many of whom were election deniers, also attended the meeting and claimed there was a conspiracy.

“Our elections have been hijacked by someone or something,” said Robert Beadles, an election denier who has donated more than $800,000 to Republican candidates over the past two years. “You cannot certify this recount.”

In fact, despite all the concerns about the accuracy of Washoe’s primary election, the recount revealed a difference of only two votes in the two races.

You don’t say. That won’t happen this time.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said he was shocked that commissioners refused to certify but that he was prepared. He told NPR that he filed legal documents beforehand and then simply filled out the details of the case. “I call it our ‘Mad Libs,’” Aguilar said.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford filed suit against the three commissioners who voted against certification. A week later, at a commissioners meeting, Clark and fellow commissioner Clara Andriola changed their votes to certify. “I have been told that failure to vote to certify this election could subject me to criminal prosecution and removal from office,” Clark said during the meeting. “As such, my vote today is under extreme duress.”

This poor punk. He feels “under extreme duress” just to do his job. Donald likes chaos, but Americans, to borrow a phrase, are ready to “turn the page.”

Nikhel Sus, deputy counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, views the Washoe case as an encouraging sign for the nation as voting for the 2024 election ends today. He said this shows that attorneys general have the will and the tools to ensure certification.

“This is something that needs to be emphasized to voters, because their confidence should not be diminished,” Sus said. “These efforts (to not certify) will not work. They haven’t worked historically, and they won’t work this time.”

I’m not nervous about the election at all. By the way, is it 5 p.m. already?