But we begin with the Nevada Election Observation Network, or NEON.

The Carter Center, founded by the late President Jimmy Carter and the late First Lady Rosalynn Carter, funds this network and help train its observers.

Since 1989, the Carter Center has observed more than 120 elections around the world but began observing U.S.

elections in 2020 as trust in American elections declined.

This year, it's supporting observer networks in five U.S.

states, including Nevada.

And here to explain why Nevada was chosen is Logan Gifford, NEON's Deputy State Manager.

Logan, welcome to Nevada Week.

-It's great to be here, Amber.

How are you?

-I'm doing well.

And tell me, why Nevada?

What do you know about that?

(Logan Gifford) You know, I think "why Nevada" is a wonderful question, and what I have learned in our process here is the fact that voters have a hunger or a thirst to understand election laws and regulations.

We've been successful in training and deploying 219 poll observers throughout the state, and there was clearly a thirst to learn more about the electoral process.

-Tell me about what an observer at a polling site is doing.

What are they looking for?

What are they writing down?

How are they responding?

-That's a great question, and I want to emphasize that our poll observers went through an extensive amount of training before we deployed them.

Actually, we had two different trainings down here in Southern Nevada, an online training for our rural counties, as well as an accessibility audit that we have initiated with 10 additional observers to look for accessibility voting patterns and things like that.

So it's really a unique opportunity.

And what they're going through is our standardized checklist, and they're monitoring and observing post- and pre-logic inaccuracy, testing things like that.

And we're going to be releasing that data after the election, and that's going to go out to the folks as well as public officials.

-I believe that you are also observing the election technology, correct?

-Correct.

-What are you looking for?

How do people know what to look for?

-So our team is really composed of a lot of really well-trained officials, and our board of directors have really come down extensively on the education component.

And as you stated in your intro, the Carter Center has been observing elections for a long time and initiated this project in 2020.

And this is our pilot year, and we're really learning through the pilot process.

And I think it's going to be interesting to see what comes of it.

-Yeah, that checklist that you're talking about.

So these observers are at the polling sites.

Where are they located, and what are some of those questions on the checklist?

-They're going to be throughout the entire state.

So, like I said, we have observers in Lander County, Pershing County, everywhere, Clark County.

We have 90 shifts that we had filled in Clark County down here.

So, like I said, we're everywhere.

-Wow!

And what I mean is when someone does go to vote, where will the election observer be?

-Oh, that's a great question.

So that's actually designated through each individual county.

As some of you guys may know, the County Clerks report to the Secretary of State, and it's actually one of the unique things about election administration here in the Silver State.

So in Clark County, there's a designated area for them to sit and observe.

It's usually taped off out of the way to not obstruct the voting process.

-And that checklist, what are some of the questions?

-Some of the questions are going to be about how many machines we're operating; how many staff were there at those locations; again, whether or not there was accessible voting machines; or if there were barriers.

One thing that I learned personally from the accessibility audit that you would see quite commonly is a trash can being propped open to hold a door.

And that's not necessarily fair for some folks.

So to document that, right?

-That's a separate part of what the Carter Center is doing here is taking this information down about people with disabilities and how they have access to the polls.

So that's its own kind of separate report you're coming up with?

-Correct, absolutely.

And, again, we have 10 observers that are working on that throughout the state.

And Dora has been an incredible asset to the team, and I'm really proud to have helped spearhead that with her.

It's personal for me because I have a brother that was born with cognitive disabilities, so I think he's getting ready to participate in the next election.

So it was great to be a part of that pilot program to honor him.

-How has it gone so far?

Have you been made aware of any issues?

-No major critical incidents.

And so far, we're feeling confident that our report is going to have some really interesting information for folks to want to consume.

We'll be releasing a press release on election day, and we'll have some media accessibility.

So we're ready to talk to folks and let them know what we find.

-If there is an issue, is that documented or is there simply a checklist?

-Of course, it's documented.

And with our existential stakeholders and participants, we, you know, feel confident.

And when we established this, when NEON was first established, we had notified the Secretary of State that we were going to be here.

So we have relationships with those officials.

-What about mail ballots?

Are you involved in that?

-Absolutely.

We are monitoring that process and have observed again pre-logic and post-logic accuracy testing and gone through mail ballot processing training in some counties.

-Wonderful.

Logan Gifford with the Nevada Election Observation Network in its very first year here in Nevada, thank you for joining Nevada Week.

-Thank you.