Early voting for the June primary starts this Saturday, May 25th. The Nevada Secretary of State, Francisco Aguilar, says there will be changes to make voting and counting votes more efficient.
Aguilar told us on May 22nd, more than 4,700 mail in ballots were already returned and accepted by the counties, and more than 120 voters have already cast their ballots through the absentee system.
There are 24 in-person Vote Centers throughout Washoe County, and voters can choose any Vote Center - they have digital voting booths as well as ballot drop-boxes for those who have already filled out their mail-in ballot and wish to drop it off. There is also a ballot drop-box only at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Smoke Shop
The Secretary of State also said that last week their office provided guidance to all of the counties to begin tabulating mail ballots and early in person results starting at 8 a.m. on election day.
He also emphasizes that the secrecy of the ballot is still their top priority.
"Results will remain secure as they’ve always been," he said. "Our state and local election officials take this responsibility seriously and will continue to do so, compromising the secrecy of the ballot by releasing results early is a crime and I will work with the Attorney General to hold anyone accountable if this becomes necessary.”
Further, Aguilar says their office has requested that all county clerks and registrars provide their first election results file consisting of mail ballots received before election day and in person early voting returns by 6 p.m. on election night, allowing their internal team to conduct verification and quality assurance.
Aguilar says he knows Nevadans want to see results on election night, but “We’re in a deeply purple state, a swing state, we’re in a battleground state and we will never be able to call all elections on election night, but since I entered this office it’s been a priority of mine to improve processes and help counties get whatever they need to release results with both accuracy and speed.”
As soon as the county clerks and registrars have confirmed that all polls are closed and the last voter has voted, the Secretary of State's office will release the initial unofficial results.
Following this release county clerks and registrars will release updated returns as they are tabulated.
“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, we will be able to release more data to the public more quickly with this new process,” he said.
Aguilar also says this will give counties more time to process results than they've had before. He explains that they've been working with Clark and Washoe counties over the last year and a half to make sure they have the capacity to tabulate more results on election night.
“In 2022 Clark county had 95% of all ballots including mail ballots on hand on election night, and Washoe had 97% of the ballots," he said. "The election teams for both Clark and Washoe county have taken significant steps to process these ballots in a more timely manner and release results sooner.”
He also listed the changes they've made to implement more accessibility to the ballot box for voters such as:
- Hiring tribal outreach coordinators to strengthen communication between Nevada's tribes, the counties and their office.
- Recruiting more poll workers, including veteran poll workers and student poll workers.
“This is not about creating additional strain, this is about creating efficiency for the staffs and the clerks to be able to be more efficient in the work that they're doing,” Aguilar said.
Early voting will continue through Friday, June 7th. Election Day is on Tuesday, June 11th. You can find a polling location and information regarding the June primary by clicking the link here.
To register to vote or update your current registration you can also click the link here.
Same-Day Registration is available up until the close of polls on Election Day for those who want to register to vote for the first time or who need to update their voter registration.
Election Day Tabulation Timeline:
· 8 a.m. on Election Day: County Clerks and Registrars may begin tabulating Early Voting returns and mail ballot returns received before Election Day
· 6 p.m. on Election Day: County Clerks and Registrars provide their first election results file to the Secretary of State’s Office for verification and quality assurance
· Once County Clerks and Registrars confirm all polls are closed and the last voter has voted: The Secretary of State’s Office will release unofficial results
