Las Vegas valley elections chief hopes voters educate themselves ahead of Election Day

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The woman in charge of Clark County elections hopes voters and skeptics will see for themselves how the process works in a constant fight against misinformation.

Early in-person voting begins Saturday, Oct. 19. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day will be accepted for four days after Election Day, per Nevada state law.

“We do have deadlines we must abide by and we want to do the job as quickly and efficiently as possible and accurately,” Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo said.

Portillo was appointed to the job in 2023 following the retirement of former registrar Joe Gloria.

“We are not concerned with being as fast as we can we are concerned with making sure we are accurate in what we report,” Gloria said in the days after the 2020 election when the margin was too close to determine a clear winner in key races, including the race for president.

Tabulation is not as easy as pressing a button on a machine or scanning a ballot. Portillo’s office and election volunteers verify signatures several times, assist in registration and examine results.

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 simple terms, it’s not just accepted,” Portillo said about ballots. “We have to go through a verification process that can take up to a day.”

With new state-level registration technology and more tabulation machines, including ballot and USB readers, the process could move faster. A national grant covered some of the new equipment. The updated voter registration and management system cost the state $30 million.

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.

Amid the process, former President Donald Trump and state and national Republicans cited misinformation about the tabulation process and the work Nevada law requires registrars perform.

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. Republicans applauded the move.

“How is this office preparing to combat all the misinformation that no doubt will come out over the next two to three months?” 8 News Now Investigator David Charns asked Portillo.

“We would love for voters to call us. We would love for voters to reach out to us. We would love for them to observe what we do but most importantly, learn a little bit more about the process,” she said.

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 were legally allowed to vote in Nevada.

Trump and other Republican candidates who lost their elections also sued the county over its signature verification process. Judges tossed all lawsuits citing a lack of evidence, among other reasons.

On Thursday, the Trump campaign and Republicans filed a new lawsuit, which claims thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote and may have voted in 2020. The former Nevada Secretary of State previously debunked the claim, saying the noncitizens likely became naturalized before the election.

In addition to running the department, Portillo must also battle conspiracy theories, like instilling the fact that the election machines cannot connect to each other nor the internet. The machines also print out a voting record.

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.

A county spokesperson declined to comment on the recent lawsuit, citing the ongoing litigation.

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