Unable to vote early? Here’s why

Hundreds of Nye County residents arrived at local early voting locations on Saturday to cast their ballots in this highly anticipated election.

But before the county readied to open its doors at 10 a.m., Nye County Clerk Cori Freidhof was alerted to an issue that would change those plans.

As Nye County residents waited in line at the Bob Ruud Community Center, Freidhof had to delay early voting due to a technical issue.

Now residents want to know what happened that morning.

Check-in machines

The Nye County clerk’s office staff powered on the check-in and ballot machines 15 minutes before the doors were scheduled to open. The check-in kiosk machines were thought to have already been set to the 2024 general election, yet as the system went live, the kiosk read the wrong election.

“We didn’t know what was going on,” Freidhof said of the moment the discrepancy was noticed. “I was already going 100 miles an hour.”

The county upgraded their check-in equipment to match the state’s new top-down voter check-in kiosk, called KNOWiNK. This replaced the previous iPad and laptop set-up that was used.

Freidhof made the choice to delay early voting to ensure voter integrity.

“At the end of the day we could’ve done it without the machine,” Freidhof said. “We just wanted to make sure everyone gets their vote credited… and at that point it’s almost easier to just stop everybody to make sure everything’s 100 percent.”

Since the check-in kiosks and voting machines are on different systems, the clerk’s office was prepared with a printed paper roster of all the county’s registered voters in case the kiosks were inoperable.

There were about 200 voters in line outside the Bob Ruud Community Center when the clerk notified the public of the delay. She called Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services Chief Scott Lewis to look after the early voters while they waited outside. The chief brought snacks, water and chairs.

Roughly 20 voters left but returned that same day.

When Freidhof realized the problem was beyond the scope of the clerk’s office, she called the Nevada secretary of state’s office. As soon as Chief Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Di Chiara heard of the mishap, he immediately drove from Las Vegas to the Pahrump polling center, where he stayed on site until the polls closed.

“He kind of assured me and our workers that they are aware of what’s going on,” the clerk said. “He was so fast to get there and get us back online and make sure everything was on the up and up.”

Freidhof was only expecting a phone call or a text, but instead received a call from Di Chiara that he was on his way.

“It was just amazing,” she said. “They do take it seriously and Nye County is important.”

After the fix, due to the large number of waiting voters and an overwhelmed cellular network, the check-in kiosk disconnected for about 20 minutes for another delay before it reconnected and started accepting early voting ballots.

After a ninety-minute delay, voting began at 11:30 a.m.

‘I don’t trust anything’

For Freidhof, the biggest driver for making the switch to the new system was how fast the check-in kiosks could identify a voter who was attempting to vote a second time.

The previous check-in system updated the list of who had voted every 10 minutes, versus every two minutes under the new system. But the clerk wanted to prove it herself.

“I don’t trust anything,” Freidhof said.

After the machines began working correctly, Freidhof got in line to check in at the desk and cast her ballot. When she went back to attempt a second check-in, it automatically stopped her.

Freidhof has been asked if it is possible for somebody to vote twice. Now she can say, “You can’t.”

“I tried and I couldn’t, which I think is really big on a lot of people’s minds.”

In the primary election, Freidhof said someone attempted to vote a second time. When the voter was not convinced they had already voted, the clerk’s office was able to show the voter a picture of their ballot envelope with their signature.

Freidhof doesn’t believe anyone is intentionally attempting to vote twice, citing that all such cases have been elderly-related cases, all of whom were assured that they voted intentionally and their vote had already been counted.

“We have checks and balances upon checks and balances to make sure that voting integrity is 100%,” Freidhof said. “Voter integrity is very important to me; it is on the top of everything that we believe in. Sometimes people just gotta take a deep breath and wait a sec so we can catch up.”

“Every vote we have, we have it,” the clerk said. “It’s in a vault, it’s locked up, it’s not being touched and handled and recounted.”

Nye County broke a record on Oct. 19, the first day of early voting for the general election, by having 612 ballots cast on the first day, according to Freidhof. “It was a rough start, but it was a very successful day.”

Contact Jimmy Romo at jromo@pvtimes.com. Follow @JimmyRomo.News on Instagram.