Apr. 10, 2025
Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford and Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar announced the dismissal of the lawsuit attempting to overturn the Election Worker Protection Act. The Election Worker Protection Act, Senate Bill 406 (SB406), was passed unanimously by the Nevada legislature and signed by the governor in 2023, and protects election officials from force, intimidation, coercion, violence, restraint or undue influence.
"I am pleased with the decision from the court and am relieved that these critical protections for our election officials will remain in place,” said AG Ford. “Election officials are in charge of some of the most critical operations of our democracy. Without these workers, our system of government could not function. They deserve the fullest protection of the law, and I am happy that this lawsuit, which challenged those protections, has been dismissed.”
“I will always fight to protect election workers – they are the unsung heroes of our democracy. No one should be harassed or intimidated for supporting our democratic process, and this bipartisan law shows the importance of putting people over politics,” said Secretary Aguilar. “I’m thankful this case was dismissed and grateful to the Attorney General’s Office for standing with us in upholding the law and protecting our elections.”
On Monday, April 7, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that the plaintiffs lacked standing in the case and affirmed its dismissal. The case was previously dismissed in the United States District Court, District of Nevada.
The case, Vanness v. Aguilar, named Secretary Aguilar and Gov. Joe Lombardo as defendants, and was brought soon after SB406 was signed and made law in 2023. Sigal Chattah, recently appointed as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, represented plaintiffs Alexandrea Slack, Susan Vanness, Martin Waldman and Robert Beadles. Plaintiffs argued that the language of SB406 that criminalizes certain intimidating, coercive or violent actions against elections officials performing their official duties was too broad and vague.
The panel of judges reviewing the appeal disagreed and found the plaintiffs’ allegations did not establish any credible threat that the law would be enforced against them. In addition, the court found that the plaintiffs failed to allege that the defendants had enforcement power in regard to SB406’s provisions, and, therefore, that they were responsible for any injury the plaintiffs could have alleged.
###