Seven jails in Nevada are now fully compliant with the law as outlined in Assembly Bill 286 after a settlement agreement was reached with Elko County to ensure compliance.
“AB286 was specifically designed to reduce the disenfranchisement of eligible voters in our jails during election years," said ACLU of Nevada Voting Rights Attorney Sadmira Ramic. "At the time it went into effect, no jails were compliant with the law and disenfranchisement was at risk to continue. Through collaboration between the ACLU of Nevada and the jail administrators and county clerks, most jails throughout the state now have policies that create access to the ballot box for eligible voters. We will continue to fight back against outdated policies that undermine our democracy.”
Earlier this year, the ACLU of Nevada realized that Nevada jails were not in compliance with Assembly Bill 286, which requires local jails to create processes to allow eligible prisoners to vote.
They presented a compliance check of the bill by the jails to the Interim Legislative Operations Committee with a deadline to respond before legal action would be taken.
Although several jails worked with the ACLU to become compliant.
Elko County never responded, resulting in a lawsuit being filed against the county.
Once the lawsuit was filed Elko County worked directly with the ACLU and on Wednesday, May 29 a settlement agreement was reached ensuring compliance.
In addition to Elko, the six other Nevada Counties that worked directly with the ACLU to become compliant were: Mineral, Washoe, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Carson City and Clark County.
Most prisoners detained in jails are either being held pre-trial or serving a misdemeanor and did not lose their right to vote.
“Every Nevada voter deserves the right to have their voices heard, and people detained in our jails are no exception," said ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah. "Assemblywoman Miller, who sponsored this bill, the Nevada Legislature, and Governor Lombardo all realized this when approving AB286. Thousands of Nevadans now have the chance to be heard and rightfully participate in our democracy. While it’s disappointing our jails would only implement such policies after demands and court filings, we remain encouraged by local governments to come into conformance with the law and remain grateful Elko County came to the negotiating table and is now compliant with AB286. We will continue to work with remaining Nevada jails to ensure the right to vote is accessible to eligible voters no matter where they are.”
