Nevada Secretary of State outlines timeline for counting primary election ballots

Ahead of Nevada’s June 11 primary election, Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar outlined new guidance around when counties should start tabulating votes in order to make sure results are released as soon as possible.

Nevadans have already begun receiving ballots in their mailboxes, and in-person early voting begins Saturday, May 25 and runs through Friday, June 7.

Speaking to press on Wednesday, Aguilar said his office is instructing county officials to begin tabulating early voting returns and mail ballots at 8 a.m. on Election Day.

Counties are being instructed to submit their results to the Secretary of State’s office by 6 p.m. to “allow our internal team to conduct verification and quality assurance as we always do,” he said. 

“The new guidance is very important as more and more voters opt to participate in the electoral process in different ways either during early voting or by mail,” Aguilar said. “We will be able to release more data to the public more quickly with this new process.”

The timeline, Aguilar said, will not only aid in transparency and allow for results to be released quickly, but also help “get ahead of any potential misinformation” around the election. 

Republican officials, encouraged by former President Donald Trump, have used lag times in election results and the voting process itself to baselessly claim there was rampant voter fraud in recent election cycles. 

Aguilar said 120 voters have cast their ballots through Nevada’s Effective Absentee System for Elections (EASE), which is available for military and overseas voters, tribal members and people with disabilities. 

More than 4,700 mail ballots have been returned statewide.

Though vote-by-mail was made universal, voters can submit a form to opt out from receiving a mail ballot. There have been hiccups in that process. 

The Reno Gazette Journal reported that 2,700 people in Washoe County received a mail ballot despite requesting not to receive one.  

Aguilar said the state is in the process of implementing a new “top down voter registration system” that would help address glitches like that seen in Washoe County. 

“I think you’re seeing the challenges of the legacy system,” he said. 

He added that the county “has done a tremendous job addressing the issues and getting out in front of them” and that he didn’t “foresee any future issues.”

The Secretary of State’s office originally announced they would implement the new voter registration system prior to this year’s June primary, but that timeline was amended after county election officials expressed concern.

In addition to new guidance, Aguilar highlighted recent efforts statewide to ramp up recruitment efforts to get more poll workers, which has included reaching out to veterans and youth 16 and older. 

“Last month we announced a new partnership with Vet the Vote to encourage the veteran community, who know the value of serving and protecting our fundamental rights, to step up again for our community,” he said. 

Aguilar campaigned on efforts to protect poll workers, who experienced greater levels of harassment as the result of misinformation and conspiracy theories.  

The state last year passed an Election Worker Protection Act to make it a felony to threaten or intimidate election officials. 

Sigal Chattah, a Republican who lost her 2022 attorney general race by the largest margin of all the statewide races that year, filed a lawsuit challenging the bill on behalf of three plaintiffs, including a virulent right-wing conspiracy theorist and regular GOP donor.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in April. 

“Despite the challenges to our Election Worker Protection Act, we’re focused more than ever in ensuring our poll workers are safe and protected through June primary and November general,” Aguilar said.