LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — In the 2022 election, more than 5,000 voters cast a ballot that wasn't counted.
It wasn't because of fraud or an elections official did something wrong — it was a voter making a common mistake when using a mail-in ballot.
That mistake? Forgetting to sign the outside of the mail ballot envelope.
In Nevada, all voters sign a form when they register to vote. Then, when they show up at the polls, they're asked to sign in on a tablet computer, so elections workers can compare their signature to the one on file.
The process is the same for mail-in voting, only the voter is required to sign the outside of the ballot. When those ballots are received at the elections office, the signature is compared before the ballot is counted.
If the signatures match, no problem. But if they don't, or if the signature is missing, the ballot is set aside for a process called "curing." That's when the elections department contacts a voter to confirm their identity and that they are the person who sent in the ballot. If a voter doesn't respond, their ballot is set aside.
More than 5,000 voters saw their ballots discarded in 2022. And so far this year, nearly 20,000 ballots were set aside for curing; currently, more than 11,500 remain to be fixed.
"We need to ensure that every ballot that's cast gets counted," said Cisco Aguilar, Nevada's secretary of state.
Learning the numbers from the 2022 election broke my heart because I think there were over 5,000 people who needed their ballot cured and didn't. That's 5,000 people who made the effort to vote but didn't get their vote counted because of an issue that needed curing.
Aguilar encouraged all voters to make sure their contact information is up to date with their county elections office, so if their ballot needs to be cured, it can happen quickly.
Time is of the essence: the deadline for ballot curing is seven days after Election Day, which this year falls on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Uncured ballots after that date won't be counted.
You can update your information and see your voter history here.
Channel 13's 2024 Voter Guide has answers to questions you may have as you head to the polls — including where to find a polling place in your neighborhood and a breakdown of the seven questions you'll encounter on your 2024 ballot.
