Democrat Aguilar says he will ensure every vote is counted

Democrat Cisco Aguilar says if elected Secretary of State, he will ensure that every qualified Nevadan has the ability to vote and that their votes are counted.

Aguilar made the comment at the League of Women Voters candidate forum Monday night at the Brewery Arts Center.

He was alone on the stage, however, since his Republican opponent Jim Marchant didn’t take the League up on its offer to participate. In fact, he didn’t respond to the invitation at all.

Aguilar said the Secretary’s Elections Division is, “responsible for making sure the rules are implemented” to help the 17 county elections officials make sure the state’s elections are conducted fairly and that the candidate that gets the most votes is certified the winner.

He said he absolutely accepts the results of the 2020 elections and that outgoing Republican Secretary Barbara Cegavske has done, “a fantastic job running elections.” Cegavske has been sharply criticized by some leaders in the state GOP who wanted her to block mail-in ballots and resist other efforts to allow more voters to get to the polls as well as resist certifying election results.

Aguilar said mail-in ballots give greater access to underserved populations across the state.

He also said he would call on lawmakers to make harassing, threatening and otherwise interfering with election workers a felony.

“Volunteers should not be subject to threats,” he said.

But Aguilar said Voter ID is “a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.”

He said going back to voting on a single day and in-person is, “unacceptable in Nevada.”

“We need to give everybody the access they need to get to vote,” he said.

He said some workers can’t get off on election day to vote between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. so there have to be alternatives for them, including early voting.

Aguilar said after 20 years of practicing law in Las Vegas, he understands corporate filings in Nevada and that the system needs to be more logical for small businesses.

“Small businesses should not have to hire an attorney,” he said.

Aguilar said the state’s corporate and business filings system “Silver Flume,” needs to be updated and simplified, especially for the state’s small businesses.

He said after doing corporate filings for the past decade as a lawyer, he understands that system.

“We need to sit down with the end user, most of the time it’s small users, and understand what to do to make it easier to use.”