Seth A. Richardson

srichardson@rgj.com

The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division will monitor polls on Election Day in Washoe and Mineral counties.

The department announced the move in a press release on Monday that it would send 500 personnel to 67 jurisdictions across the nation -- including the two Nevada counties -- to gather information on whether or not counties are complying with federal voting laws.

“The bedrock of our democracy is the right to vote, and the Department of Justice works tirelessly to uphold that right not only on Election Day, but every day,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in the release. “We enforce federal statutes related to voting through a range of activities – including filing our own litigation when the facts warrant, submitting statements of interest in private lawsuits to help explain our understanding of these laws, and providing guidance to election officials and the general public about what these laws mean and what they require.”

The Department of Justice release did not say why they decided to monitor polls in the two counties, but both Washoe and Mineral as well as Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske's office were at the center of a federal lawsuit with the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute tribes over access to polling places. The release did say the Civil Rights Division is charged with enforcing federal voting rights laws, including the 1965 Voting Rights Act on which the tribal lawsuit was founded.

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The two tribes filed suit in September after asking for polling locations and satellite voter registration, which the counties denied. A federal judge ruled partially in favor of the tribes, granting them early voting sites and an Election Day spot at the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal capital of Nixon.

The department also sided with the tribes on a portion of the lawsuit. They did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Washoe County Registrar Luanne Cutler said she was informed the department would be monitoring, but was not given a reason.

“We’ve got nothing to hide and we welcome them,” she said.

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Bret Healy, a consultant with the Native American advocacy group Four Directions who is representing the tribes, praised the move.

“It’s encouraging that the Department of Justice is following up on their statement of interest brief by putting staff on the ground,” he said.

Mineral County Clerk-Treasurer Chris Nepper did not respond to a request for comment. Cegavske’s office did not immediately have a comment.