LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Nevada Attorney General’s Office will neither confirm nor deny it is investigating fake electoral votes submitted to the federal government from the Nevada Republican Party declaring former President Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election, but Attorney General Aaron Ford said the issue is on their “radar.”
In December 2020, the 8 News Now I-Team reported Nevada Republican Party’s six electors signed paperwork signaling their support for Trump in a symbolic ceremony devoid of any legal merit which was held in Carson City and coincided with the official state-sanctioned tally on Dec. 14, 2020.
A video of the event has since been deleted.
Last week, the I-Team received a copy of the fake certificates, which certified the state’s six electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election to Trump.
The certificate received by the National Archives looks much different than the official state-sealed one and reads, “We, the undersigned, being the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America from the State of Nevada, do hereby certify six electoral votes for Trump.”
The outside of the envelope accompanying the documents is stamped and verified by the U.S. Postal Service. It is addressed and was sent via certified mail to the National Archives from the rural town of Minden, Nevada. The USPS time-date stamps indicate the packet arrived in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 22.
The Supreme Court of Nevada and Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak certified the election for Biden in November 2020. When certifying the results, the governor directed the electors from the winning presidential candidate’s party to cast their votes.
“While we cannot confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, rest assured that this matter is on our radar, and we take seriously any efforts to rob Nevadans of their votes,” Ford said in a statement to 8 News Now. “There has been a sustained effort to invalidate the 2020 election and to downplay the shocking actions that took place afterward. My office cannot and will not accept any efforts to overturn a free and fair election. Voting rights are fundamental to our democratic republic, and we will continue to protect them.”
When the I-Team asked the National Archives in December 2020 about receiving the documents, a spokesperson pointed back to the official state-signed certificate, which says Democratic electors in Nevada won and cast their six electoral votes for Biden.
In a statement after the event, Nevada GOP chair Michael McDonald said the party’s electors convened in Carson City due to ongoing legal battles seeking to overturn the election results.
The Nevada GOP has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
Last week, Michigan’s attorney general asked federal prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into Republicans in her state who submitted similar fake certificates.
Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said her office had been evaluating charges for nearly a year but decided to refer the matter to the U.S. attorney in western Michigan.
There are complaints pending in Wisconsin, alleging GOP electors there did the same.
In Nevada in 2020, 10 dead voters had ballots cast in their names and 10 people voted twice, the I-Team learned from a secretary of state report, far below initial claims from state and national Republicans alleging nearly 4,000 individual cases of voter fraud in Nevada alone.