For most of this campaign, I’ve asked the Secretary of State’s office a simple question: show me the rule you’re following, and show me you followed it. When the office closed my complaint about 9,607 Nevadans with duplicate active voter registrations without disputing the data, I took that question to federal court.
Now I’m asking you to hire me for that office. That means the question turns around. If I’m elected, I’ll be the official who has to show the rule and prove I followed it. Here is the standard I’m asking you to hold me to, in writing, before a single vote is cast.
A shield and a sword
I think about public power this way. Statutes are the sword: they give an official the authority to act, to maintain voter rolls, enforce deadlines, and certify results. The Constitution is the shield: it protects citizens from how that authority gets used. A good official carries both. You don’t get to swing the sword and ignore the shield, and you don’t get to hide behind the shield to avoid doing the job the statute requires.
Twenty years as a systems analyst and twenty as a Nevada litigation paralegal taught me the same lesson from two directions. A process is only as good as its rules, and the rules only matter if they apply to the people running the process.
The rules I’ll follow even when they slow me down
Barnhill v. Aguilar is about duties the National Voter Registration Act places on election officials. If I win, those duties become mine, including the parts that limit me. The NVRA requires list maintenance to be uniform and nondiscriminatory. It sets notice and waiting periods before a voter who may have moved can be removed. It bars systematic removal programs in the 90 days before a federal election.
I’ll follow every one of those rules, including on days when I’d rather move faster. That’s why my approach to the voter rolls has always been flag and investigate, never remove first and ask questions later. Clean rolls and lawful voters’ rights aren’t opposites. A careful process protects both.
The law voters choose, not the law I’d choose
The same goes for Question 7. Whatever Nevada voters decide on November 3, and whatever the courts say afterward, the Secretary of State’s job is to administer the result faithfully, clearly, and the same way in all 17 counties. I’ve published my plan for implementing Voter ID so every lawful voter can comply. If the outcome goes another way, I’ll carry that out with the same care. An official who only enforces the laws he likes isn’t enforcing the law.
My same-standard commitments
Here’s what voters can check me on, starting my first day:
- Follow the NVRA’s timelines and notice rules, and report list-maintenance activity in the quarterly public reports I’ve already committed to.
- Answer public records requests within the five business days Nevada law requires, and publish how many requests came in and how quickly they were answered.
- Explain every closed complaint in writing. When a citizen brings evidence to my office, they’ll get a written answer saying what was checked, what was found, and whether the office disputes their data. No more closing a file without an explanation.
- Comply with court rulings promptly, without stalling or asking to put cases on hold indefinitely.
- Check citizen-reported errors and report back. If you find a problem in the state’s data, my office will investigate it and tell you what it found.
That last one matters to me most. You shouldn’t have to file a federal lawsuit to get an answer from your Secretary of State.
Accountability that doesn’t depend on a party
I’m the Independent American Party’s candidate, and I’m not controlled by either major party. That independence is only worth something if it cuts both ways: I won’t go easy on an official because of their party, and I don’t expect anyone to go easy on me because of mine. Measure me the way I’ve measured the office, and the way I think every candidate for this office owes voters: by the rules, by the record, and by results. Results, not noise.
The foundations of this approach are in Public Trust Starts With Elections Done Right and Election Transparency in Nevada Means Showing the Work. You can follow my case, and every filing in it, here.
I’ve put my plans in writing and taken the fight for clean voter rolls to federal court. Is your candidate for Nevada Secretary of State fighting this hard to protect your vote? If not, it’s time to take a closer look.
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I’m not asking you to trust a party on any of this. I’m asking you to hold the office accountable for solving real problems. That’s the job, and I intend to do it.
— Brad Lee Barnhill
Independent American Party of Nevada Candidate for Nevada Secretary of State
#YourIndependentVoice — Results, Not Noise
