One of the named defendants in a lawsuit filed by Nevada Democrats seeking to block recall elections of a trio of state senators is asking a federal court to dismiss the case essentially over an alleged lack of jurisdiction.

In a filing submitted to a federal district court on Wednesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson — representing Clark County Registrar of Voters Joseph Gloria — asked the court to dismiss the case over a lack of jurisdiction between the plaintiffs and county and state officials charged with overseeing the recall process.

The response argues that the injury established by the plaintiffs isn’t traceable to the actions of election officials, as the county registrar is only in charge of “ministerial functions” associated with the recall effort.

“The Registrar of Voters is not the person or persons who are utilizing the recall system in an allegedly violative fashion, and the Registrar of Voters should not be the one to have to defend how a private third party uses the system,” it states. “This challenge is akin to someone suing the Court because an unrelated litigant is abusing court process, but misuse of a court process, without concurrent corruption of state or local officials, does not rise to a federal violation.”

The other named defendant in the lawsuit, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, has yet to respond to either the suit or request for a preliminary injunction filed by attorneys for the plaintiffs. According to a stipulation agreement made by attorneys for both sides, Cegavske has until Nov. 17 to file an official response.

Motion to Dismiss Wolfson by Riley Snyder on Scribd