Washoe County, Nevada Election Livestream Goes DARK Overnight

In Nevada, Republican Adam Laxalt is currently leading Democrat Catherine Cortez 49% to 48% in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race.

As of right now, only 90% of the vote is in and counties all across the state are still counting ballots.

Clark County – the most populous county in the state that includes the Las Vegas area – still has 50,000 outstanding ballots to count.

Clark County Needs THREE Additional Days to Count Roughly 50,000 Ballots

In order to have some kind of “transparency” many Nevada counties have been live-streaming ballot counting.

One of those counties counting ballots while live streaming is Washoe County.

However, Washoe County’s live stream went offline at 11:24 p.m. last night, which led to viewers staring at black screens.

Thus, "transparency" went out the window.

"Looks like Washoe County's live stream, which has been showing 4 angles of the ballot counting rooms, did go dark last night at 11:24p and stayed dark until just before 8a this morning," tweeted KRNV reporter Ben Margiott.

"We've reached out to Washoe County to ask what happened."

Looks like Washoe County's live stream, which has been showing 4 angles of the ballot counting rooms, did go dark last night at 11:24p and stayed dark until just before 8a this morning.

We've reached out to Washoe County to ask what happened. https://t.co/MsWJi7lKzE pic.twitter.com/i9fdMAnTyZ

— Ben Margiott (@BenMargiott) November 10, 2022

Washoe County, Nevada live stream:

In an official press release, Washoe County claimed that all staff left for the night 60 minutes before the live stream went offline.

We know that our election livestream cameras went dark overnight. We investigated what happened and how to prevent it happening again. Learn more here: https://t.co/LT8OJkxX3L

— Washoe County (@washoecounty) November 10, 2022

What Happened

The livestream computer application lost connection with the courtesy cameras at 11:24 p.m. the evening of November 9. All staff had left for the night about 60 minutes earlier and did not arrive back at the office until 7 a.m. Connection was restored at 7:53 a.m. the morning of November 10. 

Why

The courtesy cameras are connected to a computer application designed for livestream events. They intermittently lose connection with the application. When this has happened before, such as on Election Night when one camera went dark, staff was able to see the disruption and restore it. These cameras are not security or surveillance grade cameras.

Security

NATIONAL POLL: Will You Vote For Trump A THIRD Time?

The Washoe County security administrator has reviewed the building’s security cameras. According to the Washoe County security administrator, that footage shows the parking garage, the hallway between the garage, and the entry doors to the Registrar’s Office. He has affirmed that no one entered the ballot room or Registrar’s Office during the time that the courtesy livestream was down. Security and Technology Services is working to put that footage into a viewable file that can be provided to the public.

Staff badge reports have also been pulled to ensure that no one entered the area during that time, with none found.

Recommendations

In the future we will look for a solution that would prevent software disruptions or simply not offer a courtesy livestream feed.

Washoe County has been at the forefront of trying to innovate election transparency, but we have moved from an election night to a much longer election timeframe. The technology we are using to provide this livestream cannot keep up with these demands. We suggest enhancing transparency with security cameras rather than courtesy livestream cameras in future elections.

UPDATE: It appears the live-stream is back online on Friday morning.