Nevada’s GOP nominee for top election post wants to eliminate mail voting but voted by mail multiple times
By Em Steck, CNN
The Republican candidate aiming to run Nevada’s elections has called to end mail voting by falsely claiming the voting method is rife with fraud. But public voting records reviewed by CNN’s KFile show he voted by mail multiple times, including while living in one state and voting in another.
Jim Marchant, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, voted absentee by mail in Florida in three separate elections — 2006, 2008 and 2010 — while he was living in Nevada. He moved to the Silver State in 2005, according to his secretary of state campaign biography, and did not vote there until 2012, according to public records.
It is not illegal to vote in one state while living in another. But the practice stands in contrast with Marchant’s stance against mail voting, which he has aggressively campaigned to eliminate.
The Trump-endorsed nominee heads the America First Secretary of State Coalition, a group of election deniers seeking state election posts who regurgitate election conspiracies. Their platform calls to eliminate mail voting, implement an “aggressive voter roll clean-up” and move to single-day voting.
Marchant also voted by mail in Nevada’s 2018 special election and 2020 primary, in which he won the Republican nomination for the state’s 4th Congressional District. In that election, he encouraged voters using mail ballots to “be sure and follow the directions perfectly. We would not want your vote to be thrown out because of a mistake.”
Months later, however, Marchant falsely declared widespread voter fraud in the 2020 general election and cast himself as a false victim of voter fraud after he lost his congressional bid to Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford.
In a statement, Marchant campaign spokesperson Rory McShane told CNN, “This is a ridiculous story, while admitting Mr. Marchant has followed all election rules and regulations CNN attempts to make Mr. Marchant look bad to cover for his liberal Democratic opponent who won’t even support common-sense measures like voter ID.”
Marchant, a former state assemblyman and businessman, is one of at least 11 GOP secretary of state nominees who have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election. He has stated that he would not have certified the 2020 election, even though that is a power granted to the Nevada Supreme Court, not the secretary of state. However, the post has other influence over the election process, including setting and enforcing rules with local election officials. Marchant will face Democrat Cisco Aguilar in November.
A review of Marchant’s voting records reveal that Marchant was also registered to vote in two places at once, which some Republicans — including former President Donald Trump — have erroneously cited as proof of fraud.
However, it is not illegal to be registered to vote in two states so long as a voter votes once in only one state and maintains residences in both states.
Marchant registered to vote online in Nevada in 2012 while he was registered to vote in Florida, but exclusively voted in Nevada’s elections. He removed himself from the Florida voter roll in 2021.
The-CNN-Wire
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