Jim Hartman
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo expressed frustration in the delayed receipt and tabulation of ballots in November vowing to find a bipartisan legislative solution next year.
Nevada’s Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar admitted that he was also frustrated with slow election results.
Aguilar reportedly is already preparing for the 2025 legislative session to partner with the governor and lawmakers to improve Nevada’s election-related statutes in time for the 2026 election cycle.
Lombardo blames Nevada law that allows ballots sent by Election Day to be counted up to four days afterward.
“This is not a complex issue – all ballots should be received by Election Day,” Lombardo said.
The Republican National Committee filed multiple lawsuits this year challenging the counting of ballots received after Election Day. Their legal efforts failed.
Passed unilaterally by legislative Democrats during COVID-19, signed by Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, state law allows mail ballots to be counted if they are delivered by 5 p.m. four days after election day – and then an additional six days are allowed to “cure,” or resolve, signature verification problems for such ballots.
This year, because of the Veterans Day federal holiday, signature curing was extended to Nov. 12.
This led to Nevada being next-to-last in the nation – only ahead of Arizona – for a winner in the presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to be declared by the Associated Press. Nevada’s U.S. Senate race was also near last to be called.
Aguilar said he’s not sure what election reform might look like, but he would work to find a bipartisan solution next year.
With nearly 1.5 million votes cast in Nevada this year, 45% were mail-in ballots; 37% early in-person voters; and 18% Election Day voters.
By way of history, in a hastily called August 2020 special session of the Legislature, Nevada Democrats passed a 100-page-bill drafted by Marc Elias, the Democratic Party’s chief election lawyer in Washington, D.C.
The bill made Nevada the eighth state to adopt universal, unsolicited mail in voting for the November election in a state where voter rolls are notoriously inaccurate because of a high transient population. The stated reason: the coronavirus pandemic.
Nevada’s top election official, Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, was excluded from discussions about the bill and all Republicans legislators voted against it.
The bill permitted previously illegal “ballot harvesting,” a much-abused practice that allows third parties to collect ballots on others’ behalf with a great potential for fraud.
It also changed existing procedures on verifying ballot signatures, by watering down requirements.
In June 2021, unsolicited vote-by-mail was made permanent.
Lombardo is calling for serious election reforms. He made election integrity legislation the centerpiece of his State of the State message in 2023. Democrats in the Legislature refused to even give it a hearing.
Without legislative action, a Lombardo-aligned political action committee qualified an initiative, Question 7, for the November ballot. It passed overwhelmingly (73.23% approving).
Question 7 would amend the Nevada Constitution requiring in-person voters to present a valid photo identification before voting.
In addition, it would require voters using a mail ballot to list the last four digits of their Nevada driver’s license or the last four digits of their Social Security number – alongside their signature.
Question 7 will appear again on the 2026 general election ballot for final approval.
Thirty-six states have some form of voter ID law with no major complaints. Of the 47 countries in Europe today, all 47 now require government-issued photos to vote.
Additional Lombardo reforms:
He proposes mailing ballots to voters by request – not universally; mailed ballots must be received by the close of business on Election Day, not four days later; and “ballot harvesters” be limited to collecting 30 ballots.
Although Aguilar concludes “there was no widespread fraud,” people continue to doubt the state’s election results.
Nevadans deserve better.
E-mail Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.