LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — We've all seen them this week: Maps of the United States, colored red and blue depending on which candidate won the state's Electoral College votes.
Except for Nevada. We're gray.
There's little doubt that former Republican President Donald Trump has won in Nevada; at this point, he has more than 52,000 votes ahead of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
But we don't know exactly how much, because there are still votes left to count. And there will be for days.
Why?
It all started during the COVID-19 pandemic when businesses were closed, and large gatherings were discouraged from stemming the transmission of the disease.
Meeting in special session, the Legislature, on a party-line vote, passed Assembly Bill 4, which ordered local elections officials to send mail-in ballots to every active registered voter in the state. (Previously, a voter had to request a mail-in ballot to get one sent to them.)
The idea was to eliminate crowds at polling places, and keep voters and election workers safe.
But the bill contained another provision, too: Mail ballots could be postmarked by Election Day, and received up to four days later, and still be counted. That delayed the final election results by at least a week.
And, in very close races, results could flip, with a candidate leading on Election Day but losing several days later as late-arriving mail ballots were received and counted.
In 2021, Republicans tried to repeal the law, arguing the danger of the pandemic was over and the cost of mailing all those ballots was too high. But that bill did not get a hearing in the Legislature, which was controlled by Democrats.
Instead, lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 321, which made the pandemic mail-in ballot rules permanent.
In 2023, Republicans introduced Assembly Bill 230, which would have continued to send mail ballots to every active registered voter, but would move up the deadline so that they would have to be received by the end of early voting.
But that bill died in committee without a single hearing, despite support from Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who expressed his frustration on X with a short statement on Wednesday:
"Like many of you, I'm frustrated with how long it takes our state to finalize its elections. Last session, I introduced the Election Integrity Act, which would have expedited our election results process, but it was unfairly denied a hearing. Our state, and our nation, deserve timely election results. I will continue to fight for a bipartisan solution next session."
But that didn't impress speakers at an election news conference Thursday, who said that vote-counting takes time.
"So when Joe Lombardo says that he is frustrated by how long it takes Nevada to finalize election results, as he did yesterday, we see a governor who is simply not engaging with the objective reality of a close election. It takes time to count votes, period."
Another speaker at the news conference, Kerry Durmick, state director for All Voting Is Local, said Nevadans should expect delays in numbers.
"Once again, I want to reiterate that Election Day is not results day," Durmick said. "The most important thing, right now, is that every single ballot is counted and that every single voice is heard."
But Assemblyman Brian Hibbetts, R-Clark County, says elections would work better if results were known sooner. He co-sponsored the 2023 bill that would have moved the mail-in ballot deadline up, and says he will do so again in 2025.
"The problem that I see is we're collecting mail ballots way too late. Mail ballots should be in by the end of early voting, by mail, or dropped off on the day of the election."
Hibbetts says he's optimistic that Democrats may work with Republicans in the 2025 session, which starts in February 2025, to pass election reforms. But thus far, Democrats have been reluctant to roll back any of the hard-won laws that have made voting in Nevada easier than almost anywhere else.
In addition to universal mail-in voting, Nevada offers:
- Online voter registration and same-day voter registration at the polls.
- Automatic voter registration at the DMV.
- Two weeks of in-person early voting.
- Voting at any vote center in Clark County instead of precinct-based voting at a single location near your home.
- Voting for ex-felons after they have completed their prison sentences.
Democrats have said setting earlier deadlines could disenfranchise voters who choose to wait to mail in their ballot until Election Day. They've argued that getting election results more quickly is a matter of convenience, which is less important than ensuring that every eligible voter has every opportunity to cast a ballot.
Any reform will require compromise; Democrats fell short of their quest to elect a veto-proof majority in the Legislature, but they will remain in control of both houses. Under legislative rules in Nevada, the majority party has complete control of what bills get hearings and votes.
Until the law is changed, however, Nevada will remain gray on those election maps, sometimes for days after the polls have closed.
Do you have a question about politics or elections? Email Ask Steve and he will endeavor to answer your question by email, online or on air.
