LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Skepticism and seeds of doubt have been sown across party lines throughout this election cycle.
We want to help clear the air.
Last week, we began hearing from voters who suspected fraud or identity theft related to the fixing (curing) process after receiving notices, which can come in many ways, including emails, or right to your front door.
Ramiro Cabrera got one such notice on Thursday morning.
"I thought it was fake. I thought it was a scam."
Cabrera is the commercial production manager here at Channel 13.
Working at a news station, he knows how important it is to confirm everything, but in our current election climate, he's likely no more skeptical than the next guy.
So, he was taken by surprise when he opened his door this morning to find a flyer with the alarming message, "Your ballot will be rejected!"
"I actually was just not going to do anything about it. I just trusted that my vote was going to count."
But if he didn't deal with the issue regarding his ballot, his vote would not have counted.
The paper was left in his door frame by a worker from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), saying "Public records show your ballot will be rejected by the Clark County Election Department because of a missing or mismatched signature.
Cabrera, a registered Independent, says it didn't feel official and red flags went up for several reasons.
"I saw that they scribbled out the phone number and I was like, this doesn't feel right."
There's also a blank space where the voter's name should be.
"That was another one, too, because there's another person in my household so, I was just like, is it for that person, is it for me?"
He reached out to 13 Investigates. As we'd recently checked on a similar concern for another voter, we assured Cabrera it was legitimate and encouraged him to call the county number on the flyer.
Even then, he remained skeptical.
"It was really quick that they answered the phone. It was super quick. It felt like it was a scam hotline."
He expected a recording or to be put on hold, but got a real person and was able to quickly cure his ballot by providing some personal identifying information.
"Last four digits of my driver's license, my date of birth and where I was born."
So what was wrong with his ballot to begin with?
"I typically don't write in my middle name, and I'm assuming that since I didn't sign it that way, they probably thought that it was fake and someone else voted under my name."
Whether you mailed your ballot or placed it in a drop box, Nevada law requires the Election Department to check each signature on every envelope, and if it doesn't match what's on record, the law allows you to cure your signature until 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14.
"I think a lot of people are going to feel the way that I did," Cabrera said.
Voter Dennis Conti, a disabled senior citizen, was also convinced he'd been targeted by fraudsters when he got an email after voting early.
He thought he was being scammed out of his right to vote.
The email came from electionballotissues@clarkcountynv.gov, saying he either didn't sign his mail ballot return envelope, or his signature couldn't be verified with what's on file.
He was given the option of using a Personal Identification Number provided in the email and texting to Text2Cure.
Conti called 13 Investigates, and after we confirmed with the county that the email was real, he called to cure his ballot.
Cabrera says, "I was about to just toss it and say hey, my vote counted. And luckily I didn't do that, and I took that extra step, ensuring that I spoke to somebody else of trust to see if this was a legitimate paper."
We want to reiterate that both the email from the county and the DSCC flyer are legitimate.
The DSCC says they used the county website to find ballots that have been rejected and can be cured.
As for the blank line where the voter's name should be, DSCC says it instructs its volunteers to fill in the name, but the voter can also call the hotline number at the bottom of the flyer and get help identifying which voter needs to cure their ballot.
Regarding the scratched out phone number, they say after the flyers were printed, the county updated their information with a phone number that goes directly to the ballot cure call center.
Clark County says about 7,100 ballots currently need to be cured. That number will likely go up as mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 8 can be received through Saturday.
The county says efforts are being made to contact voters whose ballots need curing, so everyone has a chance to help avoid their ballot being discarded and their vote not counting.
For assistance, contact the hotline at 702-455-6552. Hours of operation are Thursday/Friday 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.; Sat./Sun. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; and Monday 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. The Election Dept. will be working Friday, even though it's Veterans Day.
