LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Nevada’s mail-in voting rules mean final results in close races may not be available on election night.
In 2020, the Associated Press did not call the presidential race in Nevada until four days after the election. While a repeat scenario is not top of mind for every voter, several who spoke with the DCNF at early voting locations were troubled by the current system.
“We need to make sure we don’t have fraudulent ballots coming in or ineligible voters sending in stuff well after the election,” Joe, a Trump voter who has lived in Las Vegas for 10 years, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “So I think everything needs to be in by Election Day.”
The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots without any postmark can still be counted if they are received within three days of the election.
“If a voter properly and timely casts their vote by mailing their ballot before or on the day of the election, and through a post office omission the ballot is not postmarked, it would go against public policy to discount that properly cast vote,” the court determined.
Under state law, ballots postmarked on or before election day can also be counted up to four days after.
“Requiring ballots to be postmarked on or before election day is a critical election integrity safeguard that ensures ballots mailed after election day are not counted,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Claire Zunk said in a statement to the DCNF. “It is also a requirement of Nevada law. By allowing Nevada officials to ignore the law’s postmark requirement, the state’s highest court has undermined the integrity of Nevada’s elections.”
In 2022, slightly more than half of Nevada’s votes were cast using mail-in ballots, according to a report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, said whether the race is called that night depends on how many ballots come in after Election Day.
“We won’t really know because there is no way to predict that,” he told the DCNF. “But it is a monumentally stupid decision that invites fraud by bad actors who may try to gather up ballots that have not been voted and then submit them after Election Day as they see the preliminary, unofficial results.”
Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar did implement several measures to speed up the process this year, including allowing tabulation of early voting returns beginning at 8 am on Election Day. Mail ballots can be counted beginning 15 days before the election, according to guidance given to the counties.
“This year, the country will be looking to Nevada to determine the winner of the Presidential election,” Aguilar wrote in May. “Voters deserve available results on election night; releasing results sooner will increase transparency, help us combat misinformation and alleviate pressure on election officials.”
Zach, a Democrat who is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris because of abortion, felt for the first time this cycle that he needed to vote in-person. While he does not believe the laws need to be changed, he told the DCNF he was “nervous” about sending his mail-in ballot, especially after fires were set to dropboxes in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.
“I don’t want to risk that,” he said.
Edward, a Trump voter whose top issues were immigration and reducing the deficit, told the DCNF he was “very concerned” by late results from mail-in ballots. “That needs to go,” he said. “It needs to be in-person and show an ID. And it should get done the same day by 10 o’clock.”
“You should vote either in-person or by the day and show who you are,” Angela, a Trump voter, told the DCNF.
George Guthrie, spokesman for Washoe County’s election office, told the DCNF the results are unofficial until certified by the board of county commissioners on Nov. 15. Before that date, it’s difficult to estimate “when every vote is counted,” he said.
“I can say however the office is confident in having the majority of our results released on Election Night when all polls are closed across the state,” he said, explaining in-person votes from election day and early voting, as well as mail ballots processed to that point, will be counted. However, not all votes will be received on election night as “ballots are most likely in the mail in transit to our office.”
Washoe County is a swing county with the second greatest population in the state.
In the more populated Clark County, where Democrats typically lead, the elections department did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the anticipated timeline for results.
This year, Nevada residents are also voting on a ballot question that would amend the state constitution to require voter identification.
Despite lingering concerns about the new rules, Republicans in the state have leaned into ballot harvesting, which became legal in 2020, and pushed supporters to vote early. During a Trump rally last week, some voters took advantage of a return for mail-in ballots offered on-site.
The party has seen great success in early voting, surpassing previous years. Republicans lead by over 40,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.
Featured Image Credit: Paul Sableman
