Federal prosecutor selected to serve as Nevada election watchdog

The top federal prosecutor in Nevada has named a watchdog to oversee the response to any problems that might arise on Election Day.

U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson announced that Daniel Schiess, an assistant U.S. attorney, will also serve as Nevada’s district election officer for the Nov. 8 vote.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” Frierson said in a statement. “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.”

The appointment is part of an effort by the Department of Justice to ensure that Election Day and early voting goes as smoothly as possible in Nevada across the country in the midst of an increasingly toxic political climate.

Nevada is one of 94 U.S. Attorney’s districts nationwide, each of which will have an election officer to oversee “potential election-crime matters” in their districts.

“From now through Election Day, the U.S. attorneys’ offices will work with specially trained FBI personnel in each district to ensure that complaints from the public involving possible election fraud are handled appropriately,” the Justice Department said in an Oct. 26 statement.

Specifically, federal authorities say they want to deter and combat “discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.”

Under federal law, other election-related crimes include intimidating or bribing voters, the buying and selling of votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes and marking ballots against a voter’s wishes or without their input, among others, the Justice Department said.

West Juhl, a spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, welcomed the development.

“I do think it’s a good move by the DOJ. I do think it’s needed,” Juhl said. “We already have a county in Nevada that has ignored the law and gone rogue.”

Juhl was referring to Nye County, the sprawling, sparsely populated rural jurisdiction west of Clark County, where a distrust of voting machines fed by conspiracy theories led officials to order a hand count of early ballots.

On Thursday, Nevada Secretary of State State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican who has been critical of election conspiracy theories, ordered the county to stop its count after the state Supreme Court ruled it violates state election law, the Associated Press reported.

“It’s certainly a rough climate. There’s no denying that,” Juhl said. “It’s wild out here.”

Schiess, who is ready to respond to concerns and complaints as voters go to the polls for early voting and on Election Day can be reached by the public at 702-388-6336, Frierson said.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com or 561-324-6421. Follow @BrettClarkson_ on Twitter.