As voters experienced once again in November, Nevada’s current election system inexcusably delays getting timely election results and wastes taxpayer dollars. It’s well past time Nevada Democrats listen to voters and reform Nevada’s elections. Here are three ideas they should consider. 

First, mail ballots should have an Election Day return deadline. This will undoubtedly speed up getting final election results and is the norm in most states, including in blue Colorado, Washington and Oregon, which conduct their elections entirely by mail. 

There’s simply no good reason to accept ballots several days after the election when Nevada makes returning a ballot so easy. Clark County alone offered 140 in-person ballot drop-off locations around the county and the state gives voters postage-paid envelopes to return mail ballots. Voters agree it’s not too much to ask. In fact, 89 percent of them believe ballots should be received by Election Day and studies consistently show that delayed election reporting erodes voter confidence. If this is what voters want and it’s good enough for Democrats in the bluest of states, it should be good enough for Democrats in purple Nevada. 

Second, Nevada can continue to be a national leader in making voting easy while reforming its universal vote-by-mail system. After the initial COVID-fueled surge in mail voting in 2020, 55 percent of Nevadans in 2024 voted in person. Yet Nevada inexplicably continues to automatically mail ballots to all registered voters, including to the majority of Nevadans who would rather vote in-person. This is an obvious waste of taxpayer dollars and election officials’ time, as they are required to print and mail hundreds of thousands ballots to voters who have no intention of returning them.

The current system is also too dependent on the U.S. Postal Service, which Nevadans know from everyday experience, has become unreliable. USPS tried to cut costs by routing mail in Northern Nevada through Sacramento. Although they’ve backed off that proposal for now, USPS’s future dependability is in doubt. Why would Nevada policymakers want their voting system to hinge on such a weak link whose performance is outside its control? 

Nevada can continue to make mail voting easy and accessible by allowing voters to opt-in to receive mail ballots instead of mailing to everyone unless they opt-out. This will improve the security of Nevada’s elections with fewer unaccounted for ballots flooding the highly transient state. Anyone that wants or needs to vote by mail still can. But subtly nudging voters to vote in person during Nevada’s generous in-person early voting period or on Election Day would speed up getting election results, since in-person votes are counted on the spot, don’t require time-consuming back-end processing procedures such as signature verification, and are less litigation-prone. 

Finally, Nevadans voted in November overwhelmingly to adopt a proposed voter ID constitutional amendment that would apply to both in-person and mail voting. Our organization, Coalition for Prosperous Communities, has invested heavily to support this. Although voters need to approve the amendment again in 2026 for it to take effect, nothing stops the Legislature from enacting the policy now.

Although voters from both parties overwhelmingly support voter ID, Nevada Democrats have stubbornly resisted. As a sweetener, one potential compromise is to eliminate signature verification on mail ballot envelopes in exchange for asking voters to provide the last four digits of their driver’s license or Social Security number. Signature verification is better than nothing, but it contributes significantly to ballot counting delays whereas officials can verify ID numbers more quickly. 

Returning ballots by Election Day, trimming the excesses of universal vote-by-mail, and adopting voter ID for mail voting would significantly improve Nevada’s elections and finalize election results quicker. It’s time for Democrats to put politics aside and work with Gov. Joe Lombardo for the common good.

Justin Riemer serves as outside counsel to Coalition for Prosperous Communities, which promotes and advocates for conservative policy reforms, and Restoring and Integrity and Trust in Elections and is a partner at First Street Law.

Chris Carr is a longtime political consultant, Nevada resident and senior adviser to the Coalition for Prosperous Communities. 

The Nevada Independent welcomes informed, cogent rebuttals to opinion pieces such as this. Send them to [email protected].

This story was updated at 8:15 a.m. on 2/28/24 to reflect the name change of Justin Riemer's law firm.