Trump campaign files lawsuit in Nevada over polling place hours

by Ben Kamisar and Jonathan Swan - 11/08/16 1:58 PM ET

Donald Trump’s campaign has filed a lawsuit against a Nevada county registrar of voters alleging early voting sites in Democratic areas were kept open too late.

The Trump campaign filed the suit early Monday evening.

{mosads}Trump and his campaign have warned for months about a “rigged election” that has stacked the deck against him and he’s wavered publicly on whether or not he’ll concede, citing concerns about the integrity of the vote.

This new suit could provide the campaign with an opening to contest the results of the presidential election against Democrat Hillary Clinton if the election hinges on Nevada’s six electoral votes.

Voters are allowed to vote if they are standing in line when the polls close. But the source told The Hill the Trump campaign believes it has evidence the Clark County registrar broke the law by reopening a polling site after it had been shut down almost two hours after the polls closed on Friday.

“The incidents that occurred on Friday night should be troubling to anyone who is interested in free and fair elections,” said Charles Muñoz, the Trump campaign’s Nevada state director.

“Voters who showed up after the scheduled closing times at selected locations were allowed to vote, while those who were not able to make it to other early voting sites by the posted closing times were denied the right to cast their ballot.”

Muñoz pointed the finger at Clark County registrar of voters Joe Gloria for directing the “illegal activity.”

Clark County includes Las Vegas and is one of the more Hispanic-heavy and Democratic-leaning counties.

A Clark County spokesman told The Associated Press over the weekend that it’s the law to allow those in line when polls close to still vote and that they’d likely not turn away someone who showed up late.

“If there’s a line when closing time comes, we just keep processing voters until there’s no more line,” Dan Kulin, the spokesman, said. “We’re flexible because we want people to vote.”

Appearing in court, The Trump campaign argued that the early vote from Friday should be separated and preserved in case the campaign wants to contest the state, as it’s unclear whether those ballots could decide the state or not.

Trump and his supporters railed on Clark County over the weekend for what they perceives as an injustice meant to boost Clinton’s chances in the swing state.

“Last night in Clark County, they kept a poll open until 10 o’clock at night so a certain group could vote,” Nevada state GOP Chairman Michael McDonald told the crowd at a Saturday night Trump rally in Reno.

“The polls are supposed to close at 7; this was kept open ’til 10. Yeah, you feel free right now? You think this is a free and easy election?”

Speaking about a half-hour after McDonald, Trump brought up the issue as proof that the system is “rigged” against him, accusing Democrats of bussing voters in after poll closing.

David Bossie, Trump’s deputy campaign manager, said during an interview that MSNBC Tuesday afternoon that the lawsuit isn’t about voter “suppression” but instead enforcing the “rules of the game.” And he implied that more lawsuits were coming.

“This is the first of those cases that we are filing and we’ll see where today goes,” Bossie said.

“We want every American to be able to have the right to vote but they need to follow the rules.”

Updated at 2:44 p.m.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton