Nevada’s Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and a group called the Democracy Defense Project (DDP) have launched what they’re calling a “transparency dashboard” — a new website showing voter complaint data from the 2024 general election.
At first glance, it sounds like great news. Out of roughly 1.48 million ballots cast statewide, the report shows only 306 election-related complaints — about 0.02 percent. The media and left-leaning voices are already pointing to that number as proof that Nevada’s elections are clean and free of fraud.
But here’s the problem: that number doesn’t tell the whole story.
94 Percent Still Under Investigation
While 306 complaints may not sound like much, 94 percent of those investigations are still open. Of the handful that have been closed, most were labeled “no violations.”
So while the Secretary of State’s office touts a “tiny complaint rate,” it’s really just saying “we haven’t found or finished much yet.”
Conservatives say that’s not transparency — it’s spin.
“A low complaint rate might mean there’s nothing wrong,” said Chuck Muth, president of the Citizen Outreach Foundation and head of the Pig Pen Project, a Nevada-based voter integrity effort. “But it can also mean we’re not catching or prosecuting what is wrong.”
A Transparency Tool — or a Talking Point?
According to GovTech, the new system connects with the state’s updated Voter Registration and Election Management System (VREMS), which cost taxpayers over $27 million to build. It lets county clerks and election officials track data in real time.
That’s good in theory — but it doesn’t solve the bigger issues.
Groups like the Pig Pen Project have long warned that Nevada’s voter rolls are “bloated” and out of date. Muth’s organization even sued the Secretary of State’s office earlier this year for failing to release records on investigations and voter list maintenance.
Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit reported by the New York Post claims Nevada has registered thousands of noncitizens to vote through the DMV’s automatic registration system.
None of that shows up on Aguilar’s shiny new dashboard.
The Numbers That Matter
Supporters of Aguilar’s dashboard call it “a bold step toward transparency.” But conservatives say real transparency means more than putting up a few charts.
If the state mails ballots to outdated addresses, if noncitizens can slip through DMV registration, and if investigations drag on for years without closure — the “0.02 percent” stat doesn’t mean much.
It’s like bragging your house is spotless because you only looked in one room.
Why It Matters for Nevada
This isn’t just a numbers game. Nevada is a swing state. A few thousand votes — or even a few hundred — can swing close races.
That’s why conservatives want more than dashboards. They want accountability. They want proof that inactive voters are being removed from the rolls and that citizenship is verified before ballots go out.
Otherwise, the system might look clean on paper while the real problems sit under the rug.
The Takeaway
Nobody’s saying every vote in Nevada is tainted. But pretending everything’s fine just because the complaint count is low isn’t real transparency — it’s marketing.
The question isn’t how few complaints were filed. It’s why so many remain open, why the voter rolls are still messy, and why officials refuse to release full public data.
As Muth puts it, “Transparency without accountability is just optics.”
So before anyone celebrates that “0.02 percent” figure, Nevadans should ask: Are we being shown the whole truth, or just the part that fits a nice headline?
Because when it comes to our elections, numbers don’t lie — but people can sure make them look pretty.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
