President Donald Trump’s comments that Republicans should “take over the voting” in at least 15 states has prompted bipartisan pushback in Nevada.

Speaking Monday on a podcast hosted by former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Trump said “Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” He also doubled down on his comments on Tuesday, telling reporters that if states “can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.”

The White House did not provide information about which states Trump was referring to. However, a White House official sent The Nevada Independent several data points that indicate one of the states could be Nevada. For example, the state is one of 14 states to not require a form of voter ID, and it is one of two dozen states that the Department of Justice is suing for refusing the administration’s request for certain personal voter information, such as driver’s license or partial Social Security numbers.

Although Nevada does not require voter ID, a voter ID ballot question overwhelmingly passed in 2024 and will return to the 2026 ballot.

The comments were the latest example of the Trump administration seeking more information — or control — over the electoral process. The president has no unilateral control over elections. Instead, the U.S. Constitution gives states the authority to oversee the administration of elections, while Congress can pass election-related laws that all states must follow.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat who is the state’s top elections official, said in a statement Tuesday that the “Constitution makes it clear: elections are run by the states.”

“The President doesn’t have the power to change how our elections are conducted, and what he’s suggesting is unconstitutional,” Aguilar said.

Former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and Democratic Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins — the founders of an effort to increase trust in elections — released a statement Tuesday reaffirming their trust in local oversight of elections. Perkins called Trump’s rhetoric “dangerous,” while Sandoval said, “Nevada’s elections should be handled in Nevada, by Nevadans.”

The offices of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) did not respond to requests for comment.

Nevada has been a target of Trump’s unfounded claims of widespread election irregularities.

In 2022, he said Clark County has a “corrupt voting system,” and his campaign filed several failed lawsuits during the 2024 election seeking to change the state’s mail ballot and voter roll maintenance rules — efforts that critics said were meant to further sow distrust in Nevada elections.

Across the past year, Nevada election officials have consistently pushed back against the Trump administration’s efforts to become more involved in its elections.

Aguilar called a March executive order to require an ID to vote — which has since faced multiple losses in court — as “federal overreach.” Trump also said in August that he wants to do away with mail ballots and voting machines, but he does not have that power in the U.S. Constitution.

Most recently, the Trump administration sued Nevada for refusing to disclose sensitive voter information. The Department of Justice had asked for copies of Nevada’s voter rolls, which are already public record and the state provided, but the state has resisted providing voters’ driver’s license or partial Social Security numbers.

A White House official said Tuesday that the states not turning over the data are “unwilling to comply with federal law,” while state officials have said the requests violate privacy laws.