Washoe County’s Election Czar
June 29, 2025
By Oscar Dey Williams
The recent Raftelis Report on the Washoe County Manager’s office, organization, and reporting has unwittingly exposed the oversized role the Manager has over the Office of Registrar of Voters. The Raftelis Report and the county’s own organizational chart illustrate that the ROV is under the authority of and directly reports to the County Manager’s office when, in fact, the ROV owes its fealty to Commissioners. The Raftelis Report and the county’s organization are inaccurate for the following reasons:
“The person appointed to such office shall serve in such office solely at the pleasure of the board of county commissioners.” Washoe County Code 5.451, 2.
The code refers to the Office of Registrar of Voters. Yet, the county’s organizational chart places the ROV under the Manager’s and Assistant Manager’s authority as shown in this chart:
It’s incongruous to have an elected Clerk who conducts elections, as 15 of Nevada’s 17 counties do, but when an ROV is hired the Manager becomes the county’s Election Czar.
In addition, and as a result, the Raftelis Report[1], page 26, proposes a new reporting relationship chart for the County Manager and executive leadership team, showing the ROV as being further away from the Clerk and directly under one of two Assistant Managers per this chart:
To correct this issue of organization and reporting, the ROV should be right under the Commissioners and/or the Clerk. The Assistant Manager(s) should be liaison to the ROV.
A Registrar is a pseudo-Clerk
At issue is an understanding of the nature of the ROV as a pseudo-Clerk as provided for by the state Legislature:
NRS 244.164 Registrar of voters: Creation of office; appointment, qualifications, powers and duties.
2. The registrar of voters, upon appointment as provided in subsection 1, shall assume all of the powers and duties vested in and imposed upon the county clerk of the county with respect to elections, except the duties imposed by virtue of NRS 293.393 to make out and deliver certificates of election.
The statute clearly tethers the ROV to the Clerk and not the Manager. Note that the ROV cannot issue nor deliver Certificates of Elections.
And by county code:
Washoe County Code 5.451 - Registrar of voters: Creation of office; registrar's appointment, qualifications, term, compensation, powers and duties.
4. The registrar of voters shall assume all of the powers and duties vested in and imposed upon the county clerk with respect to elections, except the duties prescribed by NRS 293.393, relating to the preparation and delivery of certificates of election.
In counties that do not have registrars, the law is: NRS 293.503 County clerk is ex officio county registrar.
Per the statutes and codes, it is the Clerk who runs elections, encompassing such things as:
· Hiring and oversight of election boards;
· Testing and accuracy of election equipment;
· Printing of sample ballots and standard ballots;
· Preparation and dissemination of voter rosters;
· Certifying results, certificates of election;
· Reporting results.
‘Registrar’ is not enumerated in the applicable statutes related to the above duties, further supporting the intertwining of the Clerk to the Registrar, and not the Manager.
The Raftelis Report, page 22:
Recommendation 10: Restructure the Office of the County manager to create executive capacity.
Recommendation 10 would give the Manager more power, the executive kind, equaling that of elected officials.
The correct role of the ROV is that the ROV is under the control of the Commissioners and reports directly to them and to the Clerk, not the Manager.
The Commissioners are in the driver’s seat
Though it applies only to Clark and Washoe counties, state statute clearly enumerates the Commissioner’s rights to control and regulate the ROV, not the Manager:
NRS 244.164 Registrar of voters: Creation of office; appointment, qualifications, powers and duties.
1. In each county having a population of 100,000 or more, the board of county commissioners may create the office of registrar of voters, prescribe the qualifications, duties and compensation of that office and make appointments to that office.
Note that the word “may” in the statute provides for the dissolution of the ROV, reverting the conduct of elections back to the Clerk, which only the Commissioners are empowered to do.
Statute also enumerates the administrative role of the Manager as being under the authority of commissioners:
NRS 244.135 Duties; employees and assistants.
1. The county manager shall perform such administrative functions of the county government as may be required by the board of county commissioners.
2. The county manager may, with the approval of the board of county commissioners, appoint such assistants and other employees as are necessary to the proper functioning of his or her office. The salaries of such assistants and employees and other expenses of conducting the office of the county manager shall be fixed and determined by the county manager with the consent and approval of the board of county commissioners.
There is no statute nor county code that gives authority to the County Manager or Assistant Manager over the ROV other than when a director or appointee has to be replaced. For example, WCC 5.0215 gives authority to the Manager to make appointments:
Washoe County Code 5.0215:
2. The county manager, in accordance with section 5.022(2), is authorized to appoint such assistant county managers and other employees as are necessary to the proper functioning of the county. This section constitutes approval of the board for the county manager to operate other programs for the proper functioning of the manager's office and the county.
3. The county manager may designate an acting director of a department in the event of a director's vacancy, and within 30 days, shall seek approval of the temporary appointment from the board of county commissioners.
That an ROV would vacate their position right before an election, requiring the Manager to exert authority over replacing that person is rare, even for Washoe with a high turnover rate of Registrars.
Moreover, the Manager’s powers of appointment are limited by the Commissioner’s authority:
Washoe County Code 5.0215:
1. The county manager may also oversee various appointed department heads as proscribed by the board of county commissioners.
And,
Washoe County Code 5.022:
2. The number of assistant county managers that may be appointed shall be determined by the board of county commissioners.
And,
NRS 293.445 Expenses for assistants to county or city clerk. The board of county commissioners of each county or city council of each city shall provide the appropriate county or city clerk with sufficient assistants to enable the county or city clerk to perform properly the duties imposed upon him or her by this chapter. Such expense is a charge upon the appropriate county or city.
And, the Manager’s power of appointment may conflict with that of Commissioners with respect to the ROV, (emphasis added)
NRS 244.164 1. In each county having a population of 100,000 or more, the board of county commissioners may create the office of registrar of voters, prescribe the qualifications, duties and compensation of that office and make appointments to that office.
Possibly, according to NRS 244.164, Manager Brown’s unilateral hiring and appointment of McDonald as deputy ROV and then acting ROV was illegal?
In summary, the Washoe County Codes do not grant authority to the Manager to control the office of the ROV. The Manager may appoint assistants and temporarily replace an acting director in the event of vacancy, such as when ROV Cari-Ann Burgess abruptly bailed just prior to the 2024 general election. And still, the new director, Andrew McDonald, had to be approved by the commissioners to continue filling that role. Though McDonald was ushered in by Manager Brown, once in place McDonald’s allegiance and duty sat or sit squarely with the Commissioners.
And because Washoe County’s organizational chart is flawed, the Raftelis Report is inaccurate in its analysis and recommendations in regards to the Registrar of Voters.
These issues must be corrected for the record and so that all persons know and understand the truth about who controls elections in Washoe County: It’s the Commissioners with the assistance of the Clerk in overseeing the ROV, and not the Manager: Washoe’s Election Czar.
[1] https://www.scribd.com/document/880541631/Washoe-County-OCM-Organizational-Assessment-Project-Memo