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What To Know About Voter Registration Ahead Of Nevada’s June Primary

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For the first time, Nevada is holding a mostly mail-in primary election on June 9. At least one in-person polling location will remain open in each county for the primary.

Nevada’s June 9 primary will be a mostly mail-in election for the first time. All active registered voters should have already received an absentee ballot in the mail.  

If you haven’t received a ballot and want one or believe you should have received one, you’ll need to go online today, May 21, to register or update your registration information. Today is the last day to do so.

You can also go to your county registrar of voters department to check on your registration. If you have questions about your registration or ballot, please contact your county registrar of voters department.

If you’ve received your ballot, the steps for filling it out and sending it in are simple.  

  • Your ballot mailer: Includes the ballot, a set of instructions, a privacy sleeve (which could also be the instruction sheet) and a return envelope.
  • Filling out your ballot: The instruction sheet should have specific guidelines, but in general, use a black or blue ink pen to complete the ballot; fill in the oval of your choices completely. If you make a mistake, cross out the name of the candidate or question you didn’t want to vote for — fill in the bubble of the candidate or question you did want to vote for.
  • Detach the ballot stub: Keep this for your records.
  • Insert your ballot into the privacy sleeve.
  • Slide the privacy sleeve with ballot into the return envelope: Please only include ONE ballot per envelope.
  • Sign and seal the postage pre-paid return envelope: Your signature will be compared with the signature on your voter registration. Your ballot will not be counted if it is not signed.
  • Mail it in! Your ballot must be postmarked by Election day, June 9.  If you accidentally damage your ballot, you can get a new one prior to June 2 by contacting your county registrar’s office.

You can also drop off the ballot at a designated location on June 9 (contact your county voter office for more information).
If you don’t want to vote by mail, in-person voting and early voting are still available.

  • Eligible Nevadans can register online to vote in the June 9 primary in-person until June 4. 
  • Same-day voter registration is also available on June 9. 

It may take as many as 10 days after the election for all votes to be counted.  
What’s at stake?

With Democrats in control of more than two-thirds of Assembly seats and one seat shy of a supermajority in the state Senate, party control of the legislature is very much at stake. The 2021 legislative session will give lawmakers and the governor an opportunity to redraw district boundaries for the first time in a decade. That could lock in party advantages for congressional representatives and other elected officials in the state. 

Still, the decision to make the primary a “mail-in” election has not come without controversy. In recent days, President Trump has weighed in calling it an “illegal vote by mail” effort which would create a “great Voter Fraud” scenario.  

To counter some of the criticism, the Nevada Secretary of State’s office has published a “myths vs facts” sheet on the primary.  

Among the many myths the sheet attempts to dispel: Voting by mail is not more vulnerable to voter fraud. The signature on the return envelope signed by the voter will be compared to the signature on file at the election office. If the signatures do not match, the ballot is rejected. That is the same authentication process used for in-person voting. Ballots and the envelopes sent to voters also have a barcode unique to each voter. Any ballot sent back without the appropriate envelope will not be counted.

This guide was produced with America Amplified, a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. America Amplified is using community engagement to inform and strengthen local, regional and national journalism. KUNR’s Paul Boger contributed to this report.

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