The first in a series of election deadlines arrives in two weeks.
April 15 is the last day voters can “opt out” of receiving a mail-in ballot for the June 14 primary election.
Mark Wlaschin, elections deputy for the Nevada Secretary of State, and Carson City Clerk Treasurer Aubrey Rowlatt said voters who don’t “opt out” by then will get a primary ballot in the mail.
Voters can still vote in person if they wish but should turn in the mail ballot to confirm they won’t be voting twice — a violation of federal and state law.
The form is available on the Carson City elections department website at carson.org/elections. Click on Mail Ballots, then Mail Ballot Preference Form.
On the Secretary of State’s website at nvsos.gov, type Mail Ballot Preference Form in the search box. It offers the form in English and Spanish.
If the “opt out” form is received after April 15, Rowlatt said it will be applied to the November General Election but the voter will still get the mail-in ballot for the primary.
Rowlatt urged voters who have been to the Department of Motor Vehicles since the 2021 Legislature when the law was passed to call their county registrar’s office and check their party preference. Under the 2021 law, DMV is required to try to register everyone doing business with them. But if that person doesn’t check the party preference box, DMV will automatically put them in the non-partisan category.
If the voter doesn’t fix the problem, they won’t be able to vote in their party primary, which Rowlatt said will undoubtedly upset some voters.
Wlaschin said, however, since ballots arrive well before the election, those voters wrongly moved to non-partisan still have plenty of time to go online and fix their party preference.
He said the clerk will then send the correct ballot. He said, in fact, the voter can fix that problem even on election day using same-day registration rules.
Nevadans have until May 17 to register to vote in person or through the mail.
After May 17, they can still register online and don’t have to vote in person. Unless they wish to.
If someone wishes to register to vote after May 31, they must come into the clerk’s office with a government-issued ID and proof of residency. That proof is typically a power bill, credit card statement, pay stub or other current document with their name and address.
Wlaschin urged those who want to vote in person to opt out of receiving a mail ballot. For one thing, he said that will save the state money since each ballot costs between $1.46 to more than $4 in small, rural counties that might only need a couple of hundred ballots.
He said the printed ballots aren’t cheap and the total cost to print a ballot for every voter could run as high as $20 million.
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