By Andrew Doughman, Nevada News Bureau: Secretary of State Ross Miller today appointed Scott F. Gilles as deputy elections officer. He steps into the role after his predecessor, Matt Griffin, resigned this past December to return to private practice.
In accepting the position, Gilles will be leaving private practice to join a public office that has had its share of the limelight in recent elections.
“It seems there are challenges to state election laws every cycle, and Scott will be prepared to handle whatever comes our way, whether a candidate or citizen challenges a decision I make as chief elections officer, or whether we initiate action in order to maintain and improve accountability and transparency in election law,” Miller said.
Briefly, Griffin’s accomplishments include defending Nevada’s term limits law in a challenge by 21 candidates statewide, supervising the investigation into the ACORN voter registration fraud case that resulted in two convictions, record voter turnout in 2008 and a hotly-contested Senate race this past year.
Miller said that Gilles will be spending “a lot of time” advocating for the passage of the secretary’s election-related bills. Gilles will join the Secretary of State’s staff this Jan. 26.
Before taking this public job, Gilles had been a senior associate attorney for the Reno firm of Fahrendorf, Viloria, Oliphant & Oster L.L. P., since February of 2006. He also served as a law clerk for retired 1st Judicial District Court Judge Michael R. Griffin in Carson City.
