Early voting is set to be underway in several states this month. The Washington Examiner will take a closer look at the swing states, including voting rules you need to know and key differences from prior elections. Part five of Battleground Ballots will focus on what has changed in Nevada, a key battleground state in the Sunbelt that is likely to help determine which candidate wins the presidency.
After COVID-19 upended election norms, Nevada became one of the few battleground states that moved to enshrine pandemic-era laws that expanded voting access.
Among the chief changes was universal access to mail-in voting became permanent, as the pandemic forced states to rethink how elections were conducted. During the 2024 cycle, Nevada voters will automatically receive a ballot in the mail unless they have chosen to opt-out.
But leaders of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, and the Nevada GOP are actively working to protect the integrity of the election and have filed lawsuits challenging the ways Nevada processes mail ballots.
Republican leaders stressed that only active voters should receive ballots and that they will monitor the elections to ensure Nevada doesn’t mail ballots to inactive voters. Nationwide, the GOP has filed 98 election integrity lawsuits during the 2023-2024 cycle in 25 states and counts over 50 wins to date this cycle.
Meanwhile, the Nevada Democratic Party has been working on voter education efforts in preparation for the election, as have other grassroots networks, including the League of Women Voters of Nevada.
“Nevada is the most diverse battleground state in the nation, and because of our competitiveness, it takes early investment and a robust ground game to win here,” said Tai Sims, the Democratic Party’s state communications director, in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Sims said Democrats are not only communicating their “forward-facing agenda” to voters, but “we are also laser-focused on educating Nevadans on the many options they have to make their voice heard at the ballot box.”
Other election changes Nevada has enacted
In addition to making permanent universal mail-in voting in 2021, the Nevada state legislature expanded access for incarcerated voters and Indigenous communities by streamlining “the process to set up polling places and drop boxes on Native American reservations,” according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Before, tribal communities were required to submit a request for a polling place and drop box.
State laws also require local jails to ease voting restrictions on incarcerated people by helping them to register and cast a ballot.
When can mail ballots begin being counted?
Mail-in ballots must be received or postmarked by Election Day. Mail ballots received up to four days after Nov. 5 will be processed.
According to Nevada law, mail ballots can begin being counted 15 days before Election Day, and voting must be completed by the seventh day after the election. Results of mail ballot counting cannot be reported until the close of polls.
The Secretary of State’s office will provide election night results on its Silver State Elections website.
The Trump campaign’s legal challenges to how Nevada conducts elections
The RNC has made election integrity a key focus of the 2024 cycle and has pledged a goal of 100,000 poll watchers across the nation.
The Trump campaign, RNC, and state GOP filed a lawsuit against Nevada officials in May for allowing mail ballots four days after Election Day.
“Nevada’s ballot receipt deadline clearly violates federal law and undermines election integrity in the state,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said at the time. “Ballots received days after Election Day should not be counted — the RNC and our partners are suing to secure an honest election, support Nevada voters, and oppose unlawful schemes.”
The defendants in the case were Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, Washoe County Clerk Jan Galassini, Washoe County Registrar Cari Ann Burgess, Clark County Registrar Lorena Portillo, and Clark County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya.
But a federal court threw out the lawsuit in July claiming the legal challenge lacked standing. Judge Miranda Du wrote that Trump and allies “have failed to establish that the Nevada mail ballot receipt deadline gives their Democratic opponents some ‘unfair advantage in the election process.’”
According to an RNC spokesperson, the party has appealed both Du’s dismissal and Carson City District Court Judge James Russell’s denial of a preliminary injunction the Trump campaign and Nevada state GOP brought to prevent the counting of mail-in ballots that lack a clear postmark and are received three days after the election.
Will RFK Jr. appear on the ballot?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to suspend his independent presidential campaign and endorse Trump may be a boon to GOP morale against Harris. However, there was some confusion about whether he would be removed from Nevada’s ballot.
In his announcement endorsing Trump, Kennedy claimed he would remove himself from the ballot in several battleground states.
“Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states, I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats,” he claimed.
But according to Nevada law, a candidate’s written request for withdrawal must be made in person seven business days after the filing deadline on Aug. 9 excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, meaning on Aug. 20.
The Nevada Democratic Party had filed a lawsuit attempting to remove Kennedy from the ballot. But the state party and Kennedy reportedly reached a deal that would remove the independent candidate from the ballot, and Democrats dropped the lawsuit.
State GOP Chairman Michael McDonald also recently confirmed that Kennedy would not be on the ballot.
Who else is on the presidential ballot?
Harris will represent Democrats on the ballot, while Trump will be the Republican option. Other candidates, including Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party, while Jill Stein of the Green Party will not appear on the ballot after the state Supreme Court ruled her party is ineligible due to incompliance with the state’s law regarding ballot circulation for third parties.
Nevada’s voter registration dates
Nevadans have until 28 days before Election Day to register to vote in person, or they can do same-day registration during early voting or on Election Day. Similarly, if a Nevadan registers to vote before Election Day, the form must be postmarked 28 days before Nov. 5. Otherwise, they can do same-day registration during early voting or on Election Day.
Nevadans have until five days before the election to register to vote online, or they can opt for same-day registration.
Early voting in the Silver State starts 17 days before Nov. 5, which is Oct. 19, and ends four days before the election on Nov. 1.
The Nevada Democratic Party has begun to increase its get-out-the-vote messaging to Nevadans on early voting and how to turn in mail-in ballots, including urging voters to update their signatures with the Secretary of State’s office through mailers to prevent any ballots from being thrown out. Signatures on returned mail-in ballots must match signatures in the voter registration database in order to be properly counted. The state party will also have voter education pages in English and Spanish in the coming weeks.
“Nevada Democrats never take any vote for granted, and we’re working every day to grow our coalition and build a winning ground game that elects Democrats up and down the ballot,” said Sims.
The League of Women Voters of Nevada president Barbara Wells told the Washington Examiner her organization is part of the election protection program spearheaded by Silver State Voices, a civic engagement coordination hub, and the ACLU of Nevada.
“People are going to essentially receive training. We’re going to be there as poll monitors and are going to make sure that people are able to access the polling place,” said Wells, explaining the ways they are seeking to help Nevadans vote.
“If somebody is unable to communicate well in English, we will seek an interpreter,” Wells continued. “And, of course, we will be looking for voters who have been turned away or asked for ID. In Nevada, you are not required to produce an identification card when you go to vote. The signatures have already been matched up in advance and entered into the system.”
The Nevada League of Women Voters also has a Vote411 online voter guide, which seeks to help first-time voters navigate the system.
The Nevada GOP is also working to make sure their base turns out in November in order to help boost Trump’s chances of winning the election.
“So we sit here and plead with you, this is our election. This is to make sure we deliver our message. Go the extra mile,” McDonald implored Republicans during a recent “Protect the Vote” training in Reno, Nevada. “Make sure we’re there to make all the signs go up, to knock on the doors … if you see a sign is broken, stop and fix it.”
GOP worries about Clark and Washoe counties
In 2020, Clark and Washoe counties were the only two counties Biden won in Nevada. But as the state’s two most populous counties, they helped deliver him a narrow victory.
Four years later, Republicans successfully challenged 100,000 inactive voters to be removed from Clark County’s voter rolls by August.
“We are incredibly pleased with the recent voter roll clean-up in Clark County,” said the executive board of the NVGOP at the time. “Our team has worked tirelessly to ensure a fair and free election this November. We look forward to seeing the results of the voter roll clean-ups in the other 16 counties.”
Tracey Thomas, vice chairwoman of the Washoe GOP, recently addressed the two counties during the Reno training, which also included remarks from former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
“We only had 25% of voter turnout in the primary. We have got to get people out. So it’s this is urgent. We need to really impress upon this. You can’t just be lax about it. We need to get going,” Thomas said.
Rules for requesting a recount
State law allows a defeated candidate to request a recount “within 3 working days after the canvass of the vote and the certification.” The candidate must file a written request for the recount and deposit the estimated costs for the recount with the officer with whom the candidate filed his or her declaration of candidacy.
The recount must start within five days of the request and be completed within 5 days once it has begun.
The rules for poll watchers
The RNC is training at least 100,000 poll watchers nationwide to observe the election, including in Nevada, which officials stressed to allies who attended the Reno training.
“We need to make sure that in our election integrity efforts, we have two things,” Whitaker said during the Reno training. “One is that we get out the vote, that our people, our supporters, your friends, your neighbors, get out and they vote, or at least open their mailbox and fill out their ballot that’s been legally sent to them. But then we also need to protect the vote. And so that’s why we’re recruiting poll watchers and poll workers all over this country.”
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However, under Nevada law, it is a felony for poll watchers to intimidate voters or election officials and they are prohibited from interfering in the conduct of voting.
They are also not allowed under state law to take photos or videos at polling locations. City and county clerks are allowed to remove poll watchers from a polling location if they violate state election laws.
