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Nevada 2025 elections All local elections by county • How to run for office |
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Election administration encompasses a state's voting policies, procedures, and enforcement. These include voter identification requirements, early and absentee/mail-in voting provisions, voter list maintenance methods, and more. Each state's voting policies dictate who can vote and under what conditions.
Below, you will find details on the following election administration topics in Nevada:
All polling places in Nevada are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[2][3]
To register to vote in Nevada, each applicant must be must a citizen of the United States, a resident of Nevada for at least 30 days before the election, and at least 18 years old by the day of the election.
Seventeen-year-olds can preregister to vote. Anyone who has been declared mentally incompetent by a court may not register to vote.[4]
A voter registration application can be completed in person at the county clerk’s office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, other social service agencies, or college campuses. In-person registration must be completed 28 days before regular elections; registration forms submitted by mail must be postmarked by the same day. Online applications must be submitted by the Thursday before regular elections.[5][4]
Nevada also allows same-day registration.
Nevada automatically registers eligible individuals to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles.[6]
Nevada has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Nevada allows same-day voter registration at polling places during early voting and on election day.[4]
In order to register to vote in Nevada, applicants must be a resident of the state for at least 30 days prior to the election.[4]
Nevada does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.[7]
All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment.[8] Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.
The Nevada Secretary of State’s office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.
Nevada permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website. Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.
Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia permit no-excuse early voting.
Nevada is an all-mail voting state. County and city clerks deliver absentee/mail-in ballots automatically to all active registered voters in every election. Voters can opt out of receiving a mail-in ballot.[9]
Completed absentee/mail-in ballots submitted by mail must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by 5 p.m. on the fourth day following an election. Completed absentee/mail-in ballots can also be returned via drop boxes, which county and city clerks must install at every polling location in the county or city. According to state law, " If a mail ballot is received by mail not later than 5 p.m. on the third day following the election and the date of the postmark cannot be determined, the mail ballot shall be deemed to have been postmarked on or before the day of the election."[9][10] State law allows a voter to authorize another person to return their ballot for them.[11]
Twenty states allow anyone chosen by the voter to return a ballot on the voter's behalf, with certain exceptions, while 16 states allow anyone with certain relationships to the voter to return the voter's ballot. Four states allow only the voter to return the voter's ballot, with certain exceptions, and two states required voters to return their ballots by mail. Eight states and D.C. do not specify who may return ballots.
Nevada law requires count election officials to establish drop boxes where a voter can return their ballot. State law says:[10]
| “ | Each county clerk must establish a ballot drop box at every polling place in the county, including, without limitation, a polling place for early voting. A county clerk may establish a ballot drop box at any other location in the county where mail ballots can be delivered by hand and collected during the period for early voting and on election day. No person other than a clerk may establish a drop box for mail ballots. 4. A ballot drop box must be:
5. A ballot drop box must be:
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Absentee/mail-in ballots in Nevada include a return envelope printed with an affidavit that must be signed by the voter. Unsigned ballots will not be counted. Election officials compare the signature on an absentee/mail-in ballot affidavit to the voter’s signature on file; if officials determine that the signatures do not match, the ballot will not be counted. Nevada law does include a cure provision, or a law allowing voters to correct an issue with the signature on their absentee/mail-in ballot.[13]
Thirty-three states have laws that include cure provisions, while 17 states do not. One state, Pennsylvania, allows counties to establish a cure process.
Nevada voters can use the BallotTrax tool by the Nevada Secretary of State to check the status of their absentee/mail-in ballot.
Nevada does not require voters to present identification while voting, in most cases. A voter in Nevada must sign their name in the election board register at his or her polling place. The signature is compared with the signature on the voter's original application to vote or another form of identification, such as a driver's license, a state identification card, military identification, or another government-issued ID.[14]
The federal Help America Vote Act requires that individuals in all 50 states who register to vote by mail and who have not voted previously in a federal election in their state must provide either their driver's license or a paycheck, bank statement, current utility bill, or government document showing their name and address. Individuals voting by mail must include a copy of one of those documents with their absentee/mail-in ballot.[15]
These requirements do not apply if an individual submitted a copy of their identification, their driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number when registering to vote.
Thirty-six states require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day. Of these states, 24 require voters to present identification containing a photograph, and 12 accept other forms of identification. The remaining 14 states do not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day.
Valid forms of identification differ by state. In certain states that require voters to provide identification, there may be exceptions that allow some voters to cast a ballot without providing an ID. To see more about these exceptions, see details by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.
Voters in Nevada are given provisional ballots, or ballots requiring additional steps or information before they can be counted, under the following circumstances.[16][17]
A provisional ballot is rejected if the voter cast the wrong ballot for his or her residence.[18]
Voters can call (877) 766-8683 to check the status of their provisional ballot. This information is available beginning on the eighth day after the election and is available for 30 days.[16]
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Nevada has a closed primary system where a voter must be affiliated with a party to vote in that party's primary. A voter may be able to affiliate or change their affiliation on the day of the primary.[19][20][21]
In Nevada, if employees cannot cast their vote during non-work hours, employers must allow one, two, or three hours of paid time off, depending on employees' distance from the nearest polling place. Employees must request time off, employers may specify the hours employees receive off, and violations of these provisions by the employer is a misdemeanor:[22]
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1. Any registered voter may be absent from his or her place of employment at a time to be designated by the employer for a sufficient time to vote, if it is impracticable for the voter to vote before or after his or her hours of employment. A sufficient time to vote shall be determined as follows:
2. Such voter may not, because of such absence, be discharged, disciplined or penalized, nor shall any deduction be made from his or her usual salary or wages by reason of such absence. 3. Application for leave of absence to vote shall be made to the employer or person authorized to grant such leave prior to the day of the election. 4. Any employer or person authorized to grant the leave of absence provided for in subsection 1, who denies any registered voter any right granted under this section, or who otherwise violates the provisions of this section, is guilty of a misdemeanor.[12] |
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Twenty-eight states require employers to grant employees time off to vote. Within these 28 states, policies vary as to whether that time off must be paid and how much notice must be given.
Nevada state law restrict prohibits electioneering activities within 100 feet of any voting area, with certain exceptions. State law defines electioneering as:[23]
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See Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.361 and § 293.740 for more information.
In Nevada, voting rights are restored to people convicted of a felony immediately upon completion of their prison sentence.[24][25]
Voting rights for people convicted of a felony vary from state to state. In the majority of states, people convicted of a felony cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[26]
All states have rules under which they maintain voter rolls—or, check and remove certain names from their lists of registered voters. Most states are subject to the parameters set by The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).[27] The NVRA requires states to make efforts to remove deceased individuals and individuals who have become ineligible due to a change of address. It prohibits removing registrants from voter lists within 90 days of a federal election due to change of address unless a registrant has requested to be removed, or from removing people from voter lists solely because they have not voted. The NVRA says that states may remove names from their registration lists under certain other circumstances and that their methods for removing names must be uniform and nondiscriminatory.[28]
Nevada law authorizes election officials to remove the names of voters from the registered voting list if an individual:[29][30][31]
If a voter is determined to have moved outside of their voting jurisdiction or to need to update their registration status, county clerks are to send them an address confirmation notice. If the voter does not respond within 30 days, they are listed as inactive. If an inactive voter fails to respond to the notice and fails to vote in two consecutive general elections, they are fully removed from the list of registered voters.[32]
According to its website, ERIC is a nonprofit corporation that is governed by a board of member-states. These member states submit voter registration and motor vehicle registration information to ERIC. ERIC uses this information, as well as Social Security death records and other sources, to provide member states with reports showing voters who have moved within their state, moved out of their state, died, have duplicate registrations in their state, or are potentially eligible to vote but are not yet registered. ERIC's website describes its funding as follows: "Members fund ERIC. New members pay a one-time membership fee of $25,000, which is reserved for technology upgrades and other unanticipated expenses. Members also pay annual dues. Annual dues cover operating costs and are based, in part, on the citizen voting age population in each state."[33]
Twenty-five states are participating members in the ERIC program. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia have joined and participated in ERIC at some point.[34]
As of September 2025, Nevada was participating in the ERIC program.
Nevada state law requires post-election audits. The secretary of state adopts regulations for a risk-limiting audit that "(a) Makes use of statistical principles and methods; and (b) Is designed to limit the risk of certifying an incorrect election outcome."[35] The audit must be completed before a county clerk certified the abstract of election results.[36][37]
Post-election audits check that election results tallied by a state's voting system match results from paper records, such as paper ballots filled out by voters or the paper records produced by electronic voting machines. Post-election audits are classified into two categories: audits of election results—which include traditional post-election audits as well as risk-limiting audits—and procedural audits.[38][39]
Typically, traditional post-election audits are done by recounting a portion of ballots, either electronically or by hand, and comparing the results to those produced by the state's voting system. In contrast, risk-limiting audits use statistical methods to compare a random sample of votes cast to election results instead of reviewing every ballot. The scope of procedural audits varies by state, but they typically include a systematic review of voting equipment, performance of the voting system, vote totals, duties of election officials and workers, ballot chain of custody, and more.
Forty-six states and the District of Columbia require some form of post-election audit by law, excluding states with pilot programs. Of these, 39 states and the District of Columbia require traditional post-election audits, while three states require risk-limiting post-election audits, and three states require some other form of post-election audit, including procedural post-election audits.[40][38]
In Nevada, the secretary of state is the chief election official.[41] There is no state board of elections or equivalent authority. The lieutenant governor is elected by popular vote every four years and is limited to two terms.
Click here to access the secretary of state's elections page.

Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool. |
On June 2, 2021, Governor Steve Sisolak (D) signed Assembly Bill 321, enacting a series of changes to the state's election administration laws, including:[42]
On May 26, 2021, the Nevada Assembly voted 26-16 to approve AB321, with all Democrats present voting in favor of the bill and all Republicans voting against it. On May 31, 2021, the Nevada State Senate voted 12-9 in favor of the bill, also along partisan lines.[42]
In 2016, supporters collected petition signatures for an indirect ballot initiative providing for the automatic voter registration of eligible citizens when receiving select services from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Supporters of the ballot initiative were required to submit 55,234 total petition signatures in order to put the measure to a vote in the state legislature. On December 2, 2016, the secretary of state confirmed that enough valid signatures had been collected. On February 22, 2017, the Nevada State Assembly approved the initiative by a vote of 27-15 (with 27 Democrats voting in favor of the initiative and 15 Republicans voting against it). The Nevada State Senate followed suit on March 13, 2017, approving the initiative by a vote of 12-9 (with 11 Democrats and one independent voting in favor of the initiative and nine Republicans voting against it). On March 21, 2017, Governor Brian Sandoval (R) vetoed the initiative, sending the issue to a public vote.[43] Nevada Question 5, the Automatic Voter Registration via DMV Initiative, was on the ballot in Nevada as an indirect initiated state statute on November 6, 2018.[44] The measure was approved.
To learn more about this ballot initiative, click here.
Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in Nevada.
The table below lists bills related to election administration that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in Nevada. The following information is included for each bill:
Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
In order to get on the ballot in Nevada, a candidate for state or federal office must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses, and the general election.
There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.
This article outlines the steps that prospective candidates for state-level and congressional office must take in order to run for office in Nevada. For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, click here. Information about filing requirements for local-level offices is not available in this article (contact state election agencies for information about local candidate filing processes).
Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn. Each of Nevada's four United States Representatives and 63 state legislators are elected from political divisions called districts. United States Senators are not elected by districts, but by the states at large. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. The federal government stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.[45][46][47][48]
Nevada was apportioned 4 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, the same number it received after the 2010 census.
In Nevada, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the state legislature. The lines are subject to veto by the governor.[49]
Under a state law enacted in 2019, state prison inmates are counted as residents of their home addresses for redistricting purposes.[50]
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in Nevada can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Nevada County Clerks and Voter Registrars
Nevada Secretary of State, Elections Division
U.S. Election Assistance Commission












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