‘All eyes are on Nevada’: Elections officials hope for faster tabulation with new system, equipment

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Nevada elections officials hope for a faster and more efficient election with a new top-down voter registration system and more tabulation equipment.

In 2021, the Nevada Legislature passed a law requiring the Secretary of State’s Office to create a statewide voter system rather than each county having its own database. The new system is expected to speed up in-person check-in and same-day registration, the Secretary of State’s Office said. The system also means reduced time in reporting results.

Nevada law allows for mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted for the next four days. More than half of Nevada voters choose to vote by mail. Nevada law also allows for a person to cure their ballot if the signature on their ballot does not match their registration. The laws, plus the fact that all of Clark County’s votes are tabulated in one place, mean the counting process can take several days.

In a state where margins are close – President Joe Biden won Nevada in 2020 by 33,000 votes – news agencies are less likely to call Nevada for a particular candidate until the majority of votes are counted. In 2020, there was no clear winner in the immediate days after the election as counties across the country counted mail-in ballots.

In 2020, the Associated Press, the outlet trusted by 8 News Now and other major news organizations in calling races, did not name Biden the winner until Nov. 7 — the Saturday after Election Day.

This year, Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. County clerks have until Nov. 14 to submit their totals to the Secretary of State’s Office. The state supreme court will certify the results on Nov. 26.

Counties can begin counting mail-in ballots as they are received beginning two weeks before Election Day, per state law — a change from 2020. Election leaders hope the upgraded system, plus more counting equipment in Clark County, could speak up the process.

“We’ve increased our equipment to ensure that we can complete whatever we receive from Election Day soon — maybe even a day sooner,” Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo told 8 News Now. “That’s our goal. We want efficiency but most importantly accuracy.”

“All eyes are on Nevada this year — it’s more important than ever that Nevada is at the forefront of election security and transparency,” Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said in a statement. “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again — Nevada runs some of the most safe, secure and accessible elections in the country. The new voter registration and election management system only enhances those safeguards and increases our transparency.”

The new voter registration and management system cost the state $30 million.

As 8 News Now reported earlier this summer, county election officials removed nearly 140,000 voters as part of routine maintenance. More than 100,000 voters became inactive in Clark County alone.

Voters can check their registration and opt in or out of receiving a mail-in ballot on Clark County’s website or with the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office .

New voters wishing to receive a mail-in ballot must register to vote by Oct. 22. Voters registering after Oct. 23 must vote in person. New voters can also register in person up to and on Election Day. Voters in Clark County do not have to go to a specific precinct to vote in person. Nevada’s election machines do not connect to the internet and have no modem.

Following the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump and Nevada Republicans cited allegations of widespread fraud. All of their allegations lost in court, including one citing of out-of-state residents voting in the election. The voters were actually military families and students who are legally allowed to vote in Nevada.

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