No List! No Wunderbar!
Juergen Hoehne from his Facebook page.
In a whirlwind of bureaucratic bungles and technological terrors, the residents of Washoe County find themselves embroiled in a tale of data woe. What started as a simple request for a voter list has snowballed into a comedy of errors, with twists and turns that would make even the most seasoned political pundit scratch their head in confusion.
This email, forwarded by the ever-diligent Commissioner Mike Clark Distrcit 2, detailed the travails of one Juergen Hoehne, a 2024 primary candidate for the City of Reno City Council Ward 3 seat. You might remember he was the “lederhosen” candidate due to his enjoying a traditional folk dance the schuhplattler, which makes this article even more curious.
In August, 2024 - Mr. Hoehne, in his quest to buy the City of Reno Ward 5 list from the Registrar of Voters, found himself caught in a bunch of bureaucratic red tape and technological tomfoolery. Despite his assurances of an easy acquisition, for a few well-meaning friends in need, Mr. Hoehne's attempts to procure the list were met with nothing but delays and excuses from the ROV’s office.
Hoehne said, “When I was running for Ward 3, I meet some great people who supported me, they are Democrats, Nonpartisans, and Republicans. During the primary election we became friends. My new friends, primarily Democrats, are not fans of Ward 5 candidate Devon Reese and asked for my help. They needed a Ward 5 list from the ROV and were happy to pay for it. I told them no problem. I had received the Ward 3 list in April 2024 after a few days from the ROV’s office. They were great to work with. I visited the ROV’s office, requested the Ward 5 list, and then nothing, week after week I was told to check back. The rest is explained in the email penned to Manager Brown. I very much appreciate Mr. Gutherie getting back to me. Hopefully, we can get the Ward 5 candidate and his supporters a list for the campaign even if it is weeks late and only five weeks before the general election.”
In a stroke of genius born out of sheer incompetence, the ROV's office decided to implement a new voter registration system (VREMS) right in the thick of a hotly contested presidential election, without so much as a backup plan in sight. This audacious move left Picon scratching our heads, including a savvy computer expert, we called upon, who questioned the wisdom of such a risky endeavor. Our expert advisor who works with hospital systems says “you always need to have a backup plan.”
As the residents of Washoe County were left in the dark about the intricacies of the new system, questions arise about the transparency (or lack thereof) of the county government. Why, one might ask, did County Manager Eric Brown not see fit to inform residents and candidates about the system change, thus sparing them the agony of wasted trips?
Also, why didn’t Washoe County Manager Eric Brown instruct the Media Production Specialist in the ROV’s office to be more forthright in informing residents/candidates requesting lists the information that due to a system change no lists could be produced. A little transparancy Manager Brown would be refreshing.
When the county gets caught, they fess up, but producing information to residents to keep them informed of issues such as this, they are not straightforward – if they can keep it a secret they will.
Friday, September 27, 2024 emails regarding the City of Reno Ward 5 list request.
The saga of the unproducible voter lists, can be traced back to Assembly Bill 422, the legislative brainchild of Nevada in 2021 with a project deadline of 2024.
Since then, the secretary of state’s office has been working with the company KNOWiNK and a third-party contractor called Gartner to get the system up and running. The system was supposed to be online on April 1, 2024, ahead of the June 11 primary, but the launch was delayed at the request of 15 county clerks and election officials in order to work out some issues.
No where, in all the reading we have done online was there any notation of no lists being able to be produced for about eight weeks. Washoe County has not been able to produce this ward/district lists, due to this system change we can only assume. Shouldn’t all the kinks have been worked out by not taking system online back in April 2024 - you know the delay. Is this a State of Nevada Secretary of State system glitch or just Washoe County’s. We’ve sent some emails to other ROV’s around the state to get the lowdown.
Washoe County Daily Media Report Week of September 23-27, 2024.
To be clear, we feel this is no reflection on the “missing in action – due to stress” Registrar of Voters Cari-Ann Burgess.
Ultimately, all of these ROV “omissions” to resident’s should be plopped on the desk of County Manager Eric Brown. Remember Brown has a financial interest, his job and that big annual bonus. With Brown in charge of the ROV’s office Picon ponders if he has one heck of a conflict of interest. If Commissioner Alexis Hill is reelected he KNOWS his job and bonus is secure, but Hill’s opponent former Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler, if elected, might be a wildcard for Brown. Berkbigler, a fiscal conservation, Brown must know that $30K annual bonus he got last year, might be kaput.