Esmeralda County Clerk Cindy Elgan, a Republican, has for two decades been considered a reliable steward of elections in her small county with a population of less than a thousand. However, in the wake of the heavily contested 2020 presidential election, the trust Elgan’s community used to have in her has been overshadowed by allegations that she is somehow complicit in robbing former President Donald Trump of victory in the state, where President Joe Biden won by less than 34,000 votes.

Interestingly, Trump received an overwhelming 82 percent of the vote in Esmeralda County during the previous presidential election.

Mary Jane Zakas, a retired schoolteacher and vocal supporter of efforts to recall Elgan from her position as county clerk, openly expressed her distrust. “I do not trust the results from the 2020 election,” she asserted, highlighting a common concern among some conservatives about the use of voting machines instead of paper ballots.

“There are so many ways to cheat,” she added, pointing to various supposed vulnerabilities in the voting system. Her words reflect a broader trend of distrust that has taken root since 2020.

Elgan, who knows nearly all of the 600 registered voters in Esmeralda, has witnessed the shift in community sentiment firsthand. Historically, her neighbors seemed satisfied with how elections were conducted. However, the aftermath of the 2020 election has left many questioning the system.

“Some people are very passionate about this, and I can’t fault them for that,” she explained. “I may not agree with some of their beliefs, but I understand where they’re coming from.”

Polls indicate more Americans doubt integrity of elections

Polls indicate that more than a third of Americans now harbor doubts about the electoral system’s integrity. Claire Woodall from Issue One, a “cross-partisan” research institute, noted that distrust has always existed but became more pronounced after the 2020 election.

“Trump’s refusal to concede really solidified the questioning,” she remarked. (Related: Texas AG probe finds that bad actors can disguise political donations to interfere with U.S. elections.)

The implications of this skepticism can be severe, particularly in small communities like Goldfield, where election officials face harassment and threats. This environment has forced many dedicated public servants to step down, leaving a void in local election administration. For example, states with narrow election margins, such as Arizona and Nevada, have seen significant turnover among election officials.

Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer Amy Burgans, also a Republican, shared her frustration about the misinformation that often comes from within her own party. “I’ve only been in this position for four years, yet I’m one of the most senior clerks in the state,” she noted. According to Burgans, a significant portion of her time is spent reassuring the public about the safety and security of the voting process.

As cheating allegations continue to swirl and undermine trust in electoral processes, dedicated officials like Elgan and Burgans strive to maintain integrity in their communities. The challenge they face is not just about managing votes; it’s about restoring faith in a system that many now question.

Watch this episode of “The Tom Renz Show” as he discusses the ongoing efforts to keep swinging Nevada to the right.

This video is from the TomRenzToo channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

• Michigan’s bloated voter rolls list nearly 500,000 names more than the total eligible voting population.
• Beijing-linked online operatives found to be impersonating Americans to sow division and chaos ahead of 2024 elections.
• Judge blocks rule that would require Georgia to hand-count ballots.
• Judge strikes down New York law mandating moving local elections to even-numbered years as UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
• Illegal immigrant pleads guilty to stealing identity of a U.S. citizen, fraudulently obtaining a passport and voting in multiple elections.

Sources include:

• Barrons.com
• NYTimes.com
• Brighteon.com

As of Sunday afternoon, data provided by the University of Florida’s Election Lab shows 41.2 million voted by mail or early in person in the vast majority of states, with only a few states not reporting data.

Compared with four years ago, Republicans are returning more mail-in ballots and voting early in-person. Party affiliation does not mean that voters cast ballot for their party’s nominated candidate, meaning there is no way to definitively know what presidential candidate is ahead.

In states that report votes by party, registered Democrats have a 3.8 percent lead over registered Republicans, with 40 percent to 36.2 percent, respectively. Independent or minor party voters make up about 23.8 percent of the remainder, according to data provided by the lab.

Republicans have a 9-point advantage over Democrats during in-person early voting, while Democrats have a more than 11-point lead over Republicans for mail-in ballot returns, the data show.

As of Oct. 25, only 24.5 percent of mail-in ballots returned were from Republicans, while about 52.3 percent of Democrats did so, according to the Election Lab. Some 22.6 percent of returned mail ballots were from independents or those registered with minor parties.

Republicans in 2020 also had a smaller lead voting in-person early, the data show. At the time, some 40.2 percent of Republicans voted in-person early, while 37.5 percent were Democrats.

States that have reported no data so far include New York, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma.

Swing-State Breakdown

In Nevada, Republicans have a 5.1 percent early voting lead—or 31,000 votes—over Democrats, the Election Lab’s data show. That state was called for President Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.

Meanwhile, Republicans have a 6.9-percent advantage over Democrats in Arizona, a state that only reports mail-in ballots. Biden was also certified the victor in Arizona by a slim, 10,000-vote margin four years ago.

Voting by mail is extremely popular in Arizona, with nearly 90 percent of voters having cast their ballots early, most by mail, in 2020. Election officials in Arizona can begin processing and tabulating mail ballots upon receipt, but results cannot be released until one hour after polls close.

Late last week, Republicans pulled ahead in North Carolina, a state won by former President Donald Trump in 2020. By Sunday, the lead increased marginally to about 1.1 percent, or about 30,000 votes, over Democrats, data show.

Earlier this month, Trump visited areas in North Carolina that were ravaged by Hurricane Helene, saying that some Americans in the region “felt helpless and abandoned and left behind by their government.”

“In North Carolina’s hour of desperation, the American people answered the call much more so than your federal government,” he said.

And in mid-October, Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, and told a crowd that she wants to “fight for the ideals of our country and to fight to realize the promise of America.”

Pennsylvania has only reported mail-in ballots as of Oct. 27, showing that Democrats have taken a more than 330,000-vote lead over Republicans. However, Democrats’ lead has narrowed in recent days, down about 19,000 votes since Oct. 24, data show.

Pennsylvania did not have a clear winner in 2020 for four days after Election Day, as officials sifted through a huge backlog of mail ballots. The state is among only a handful that do not permit election workers to process or tabulate mail ballots until 7 a.m. ET on Election Day, which means it will likely again take days before the outcome is known.

Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin do not report party affiliation via the Election Lab website.

Reuters contributed to this report.