Last week’s update was about how long it took to get permission to file electronically in Barnhill v. Aguilar: 43 days, ending with an order that arrived in my mailbox. This one is shorter, because the system finally worked the way it should.
On November 5, I filed my first document in this case through the court’s electronic filing system. It went on the docket the same day as ECF No. 19.
What the court asked for
The order granting my e-filing motion (ECF No. 18) came with a short checklist: review the local rules on electronic filing, review the Court’s standing order, read the e-filing guidelines, and submit a completed registration form from the Court’s website.
That last item had a small wrinkle. Registration isn’t a paper form anymore. It’s an online request submitted through PACER, the federal courts’ records system, and it doesn’t produce anything you can print. So instead of a form, I gave the Court the next best proof: a copy of my PACER account’s e-filing status page, showing the District of Nevada as Active. That’s Exhibit A, shown here.
The filing itself is a Certificate of Compliance that walks through each item in the order, one paragraph at a time, and confirms it’s done.
Why this matters beyond my own paperwork
Until now, every document I filed went through the mail. My opposition to the Secretary’s stay request was mailed October 1 and didn’t reach the docket until October 5. Two notices I mailed October 19 weren’t docketed until October 27. Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s office files instantly, every time.
That gap is now closed. My filings reach the court the moment I submit them, and the Secretary’s lawyers receive them automatically, the same way I receive theirs. Same rules, same system, same speed. That’s all I asked for.
It’s the same principle I’d bring to the Secretary of State’s office: the process should work the same for an ordinary citizen as it does for the people who use it every day.
What’s next
The Court has already denied the Secretary’s request to put this case on hold. His answer to the complaint is due November 19. When it’s filed, I’ll post it here.
In keeping with the transparency I ask of Nevada’s election system: this filing includes a certification disclosing that AI assistance was used to prepare part of it, and that I personally reviewed it for accuracy before it went to the Court.
— Brad Lee Barnhill
#YourIndependentVoice
Barnhill v. Aguilar — Case Timeline
May 20, 2026 Barnhill submitted a sworn complaint concerning alleged duplicate voter-registration records to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Elections Division and Clark County officials. See Who Will Protect Your Vote?
June 3–4, 2026 Formal notice was sent under the National Voter Registration Act. The Secretary of State’s office closed its file on June 4 without, according to the complaint, disputing the underlying data analysis.
September 4, 2026 Barnhill filed Barnhill v. Aguilar, Case No. 2:26-cv-02818-JAD-MDC, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
September 8, 2026 Secretary of State Francisco V. Aguilar and the Nevada Attorney General’s office were formally served with the lawsuit.
September 16, 2026 Barnhill filed an ex parte motion asking the Court to authorize him to register as a CM/ECF filing user and receive electronic service in this action under LR IC 2-1(b), since the standard registration process assumes an attorney applicant. See A Small Procedural Fight, With a Bigger Point Behind It.
September 28, 2026 Secretary of State Aguilar moved the Court to stay Barnhill’s case indefinitely until a separate lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee is resolved. Barnhill opposed the stay and asked the Court to consolidate or coordinate the two cases instead. See While the Secretary of State Asks for More Time, I’m Asking the Court to Move Faster.
September 28, 2026 Barnhill’s Certificate of Interested Parties, dated September 28, certified that the only parties to the case are Barnhill, a Nevada voter, and the Secretary of State, with no corporate backers, affiliates, or insurer. See The Court Asked Who Has a Stake in My Lawsuit. The Honest Answer Is You.
October 1, 2026 Barnhill’s Opposition to the motions to stay and extend time (ECF No. 9), Motion to Consolidate (ECF No. 10), and Notice of Related Cases (ECF No. 11) were filed by mail. They were not entered on the docket until October 5. The Court has not yet ruled on the September 16 e-filing motion. See Equal Access to the Courthouse Shouldn’t Depend on Having a Lawyer.
October 6, 2026 Barnhill mailed a Notice of Lodging Proposed Order and Request for Ruling on the September 16 e-filing motion, with a proposed order attached. See I’ve Asked the Court to Rule on My E-Filing Request.
October 16, 2026 The Court denied the October 6 request for ruling as moot and set October 23 as the deadline for responses to Barnhill’s e-filing motion (ECF No. 14).
October 23, 2026 The response deadline on Barnhill’s e-filing motion passed with no opposition from the Secretary of State.
October 27, 2026 Two notices Barnhill mailed on October 19 were docketed (ECF Nos. 15 and 16). One notified the Court that the Secretary had not opposed the motion to consolidate, withdrew the consolidation request, and asked only for coordination of pretrial proceedings. See the notice.
October 29, 2026 Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey denied the Secretary’s motion to stay, denied the motion to consolidate, and gave the Secretary until November 19 to answer the complaint (ECF No. 17). See The Secretary of State Asked the Court to Park My Case. The Judge Said No.
October 29, 2026 Magistrate Judge Maximiliano D. Couvillier III granted Barnhill’s unopposed motion to register as a CM/ECF filer and receive electronic service (ECF No. 18). The order arrived by mail on November 4. See It Took 43 Days to Get Permission to File Like a Lawyer. The Order Came by Mail.
November 5, 2026 Barnhill filed his first document through CM/ECF, a Certificate of Compliance with the e-filing order (ECF No. 19), attaching his PACER e-filing status for the District of Nevada showing “Active.” It reached the docket the same day. See The Order Came by Mail. My Next Filing Didn’t.
Latest update: The Order Came by Mail. My Next Filing Didn’t.
The election is over. This case isn’t.
