CASE STUDIES IN EMERGENCY ELECTION LITIGATION

Federal Judicial Center 11/2/2023 1

Challenges to the 2020 Vote Count in Nevada 

Stokke v. Cegavske 

(Andrew P. Gordon, D. Nev. 2:20-cv-2046) 

While the 2020 general-election vote was being counted in Nevada, 

a federal complaint alleged that a county’s use of signaturematching software for absentee ballots was improper and that media access to vote counting was inadequate. The district judge denied the plaintiffs relief. 

Subject: Voting procedures. Topics: Signature matching; voting 

technology; absentee ballots; early voting; news media; 

intervention; equal protection; matters for state courts; Covid-19; 

recusal; case assignment. 

Two days after the November 3, 2020, general election, two candidate committees, a voter, and a member of the media filed a federal complaint against 

the secretary of state for Nevada and the registrar of voters for Clark County, 

the county that includes Las Vegas.1 The complaint alleged that Clark County was using improper signature-matching software to verify absentee ballots, and the county denied the member of the media an adequate opportunity to view the counting of ballots.2

 The complaint alleged that the voter returned an absentee ballot by mail without a signature and was wrongfully 

prevented from voting in person on election day.3

 With their complaint, the 

plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary 

injunction4 and a motion for expedited hearing and briefing.5

The court initially assigned the case to Judge Gloria M. Navarro, but she 

recused herself, and the court reassigned the case to Judge Andrew P. Gordon,6

 who set the case—which was filed during a time of social distancing 

made necessary by a global Covid-19 infectious pandemic—for a hearing by 

videoconference on November 6.7 A docket entry provided the public with 

contact information for the hearing and an admonishment not to broadcast 

or record it.8

 Judge Gordon reminded participants of the admonishment at 

the hearing: “Let me put everyone on notice that recording—and this includes the folks on the phone as well—recording, taping, streaming, or otherwise broadcasting district court hearings is expressly prohibited by this 

court’s General Order 2017-02 and the policies of the Judicial Conference.”9

1. Complaint, Stokke v. Cegavske, No. 2:20-cv-2046 (D. Nev. Nov. 5, 2020), D.E. 1; see

Rory Appleton, GOP Campaigns, Voter File Lawsuit Alleging Improper Votes in Nevada, Las 

Vegas Rev.-J., Nov. 6, 2020, at A1. 

2. Complaint, supra note 1. 

3. Id. at 3. 

4. Motion, Stokke, No. 2:20-cv-2046 (D. Nev. Nov. 5, 2020), D.E. 3. 

5. Motion, id. (Nov. 5, 2020), D.E. 4. 

6. Docket Sheet, id. (Nov. 5, 2020) (D.E. 2, 5). 

7. Order, id. (Nov. 6, 2020), D.E. 11; see Docket Sheet, supra note 6 (minutes, D.E. 27). 

8. Docket Sheet, supra note 6 (D.E. 20). 

9. Transcript at 5, Stokke, No. 2:20-cv-2046 (D. Nev. Nov. 6, 2020, filed Nov. 17, 2020), 
Challenges to the 2020 Vote Count in Nevada 

2 Federal Judicial Center 11/2/2023 

At the hearing, Judge Gordon granted a motion to intervene by a political 

party, which argued in its motion that the federal suit followed a similar and 

unsuccessful suit in state court.10 Judge Gordon expressed a reluctance to 

“usurp [the] proper role of state legislatures and rewrite state election laws.”11

He denied the plaintiffs immediate relief.12

The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their case on November 24.13

D.E. 30. 

10. Id. at 7; Docket Sheet, supra note 6 (minutes, D.E. 27); Intervention Motion, Stokke, 

No. 2:20-cv-2046 (D. Nev. Nov. 6, 2020), D.E. 10. 

11. Transcript, supra note 9, at 76. 

12. Docket Sheet, supra note 6 (minutes, D.E. 27); Transcript, supra note 9, at 76–82; see 

Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin, New Leading in Pa., Ga. as Count Goes On, Boston 

Globe, Nov. 7, 2020, at A1 (“the plaintiffs lacked evidence that the automatic scanner was 

affecting voters”); see also Emily Bazelon, The Trump Campaign Has Filed 16 Lawsuits Contesting the Election, N.Y. Times, Nov. 16, 2020, at A16. 

13. Voluntary Dismissal, Stokke, No. 2:20-cv-2046 (D. Nev. Nov. 24, 2020), D.E. 31.