Primary process recap: New voting machines, low turnout, and a premature results release

Unofficial election results for the June Primary steadily rolled in after polls across Nevada officially closed shortly after 8pm. The night ended with the inadvertent release of partial results, the successful launch of a new voter tabulation machine, and low voter turnout. 

Partial election results from nine counties were inadvertently released to a small number of media outlets before polls closed Tuesday after preliminary data was uploaded to a secure website that was still connected to a testing environment.

Election officials upload voting data to the testing environment to ensure accurate results are ready to be released as soon as Nevada law allows, but the testing environment was erroneously linked to a closed website accessible to media outlets reporting on voting results. 

The partial results were up for less than an hour and were never published on the state’s election night results page for the public to view, said the SOS office. 

“We are addressing the issue internally, and have communicated with the Governor and Attorney General and will continue improving the security and the efficiency of election processes,” read a statement from the Secretary of State’s Office.

Other aspects of primary election night were a resounding success, said Nevada’s Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar. 

One new voting innovation for 2026 was the introduction of a ballot marking device, which produces a paper ballot that voters can check for accuracy before placing it directly into a vote-counting machine. The change is designed to increase confidence in election results, decrease the potential for errors and speed up vote counting.

“The clerks also responded to these machines as they were calculating results tonight, because it made it more efficient and quicker to get those results. These new machines help voter confidence and give them a positive experience at the polls,” Aguilar said. 

The turnout for the primary was low, with about 129,000 people voting in person and more than 229,000 mail ballots received.

A majority of voters cast mail-in ballots during the primary. Aguilar highlighted the importance of mail ballots for rural and tribal voters, noting that Nevada is a 24/7 economy and mail ballots provide accessibility.

Aguilar said the low turnout means that competitive races could be decided on narrow margins, making voter access especially significant. 

“It’s important for every voter to get out and have a voice and a say. The low number of voter turnout shows how important every single voice is,” Aguilar said during a press conference on election night.“There are competitive races that are going to be decided on a small number of voters. Hopefully, in the general, we’ll see greater turnout, because we want to make sure every Nevada has a voice in the future of the state.”

As of election night, about 2,600 ballots need to be cured – meaning the signature on a ballot does not match records or was not included on the ballot and must be verified. 

Voters who returned their ballots via mail or to an official county dropbox should keep an eye out for messages from their local election official to verify or provide a signature and confirm their ballot is counted, said Aguilar. 

Voters can cure their ballots and learn more about the signature curing process on Cure.NV.gov.