Going into the 2024 election, we have lawsuits challenging voter rolls, some still chanting "stop the steal," and there are many other efforts to delegitimize the election process.
There has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Nevada.
In the middle of it is Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who is in charge of, among other things, making sure Nevada’s election in November goes smoothly.
Below is a partial transcription of the interview, which was transcribed by a third-party application and edited for clarity.
The Department of Justice just announced it was going to defend states where Republicans are trying to get people booted off voter rolls. What's the case in Nevada? Have you heard from the Department of Justice?
I have not, but we've been dealing with this issue for the last couple of months. We are working extremely hard with our 17 clerks across the state to ensure that our voter rolls are as clean as possible.
Where can I check to see that I'm still an eligible voter?
You can go to vote.nv.gov, and you can check your voter registration status there, make sure it's up to date. We're asking every voter in Nevada to check their information, because we want the experience, either through a mail ballot process or if you show up in person to vote, that you have the best experience and that your vote immediately goes into processing and avoids the curing process.
We have same-day registration here, so I can go to vote and I can register at the poll. What do I need to bring?
You need to bring an ID to confirm who you are ... a driver's license.
Have many people used that?
I think people in Nevada are still learning about the process. You know, I think it mostly impacts our younger community who are registering to vote for the first time, and so knowing that they can participate in the election on Election Day is a critical piece of information.
Early voting in person begins Saturday, but mail-in ballots are already out, and a lot of people do it that way now. In the primaries in June, 65% of the people voted by mail. Are you expecting the same?
We're expecting actually to increase. We're also looking at, you know, what the turnout was in 2020 looking at potential turnouts for '24 we know turnout is going to be extremely high. We've been working with our clerks, especially in Wahoe and Clark, to increase their capacity to process mail ballots so we can get information out to voters as close to election night as possible.
When do ballots have to be in the mail and postmarked for this election to count?
They have to be in the mail by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted,
Let's just say the post office is slow with the mail and it doesn't get there on Election Day, how many days do you allow for the mail to get to you, for it to be counted?
So if it's postmarked on Election Day, it has up to four days to be received by the clerk's office.
I guess you would advise if people are going to mail in, do it as soon as possible.
I would say, do it during early vote, because it helps with the processing and the capacity of the clerks. The earlier the mail about is received, the faster the clerks can process that and we can get information to voters on election night.
I have also read that people should look at their driver's license signature and match it when you're signing the mail-in ballot, just in case you might have changed the way you sign things, right?
The signature is a major identifier when you show up to a polling location, it's also the identifier when your ballot is being scanned, that it is actually you voting that ballot.
Early voting does start Saturday. Are you expecting a big turnout? I mean, is there any way to predict that?
It's hard to predict because it's a lot of nuances. I remember in '22, the first day of early voting, we had a major windstorm here, and so I think people stayed home that day. I remember being on the campaign trail and brushing off dust out of my eyes. But we made every effort to encourage people to vote as soon as possible, educating people that, "hey, early voting has started." Please vote today, or think about making a plan to vote within the next two weeks.
When people vote in person, how can that person ensure poll workers that they didn't vote earlier by mail?
So we have a new system called VREMS, voter registration election management system, which went live a couple of months ago. We are really excited about this system because it will help protect the process. If somebody had mailed in their ballot, that ballot gets scanned and attributed to that voter. So if that voter tries to show up in person, when they check in with the poll worker, the poll worker immediately notifies that voter that, "hey, your mail ballot has been received. You have participated in the process." One, it either reminds them that they participated. Also, if that voter protests that that isn't their ballot, they will be given a provisional ballot at the polling location. And then that voter's file goes into a research process to verify that it was their ballot or not their ballot.
Were these solutions in search of a problem? Was the problem really there?
Yes, you know, Nevada runs some of the safest, most secure and accessible elections in the country. We do not have widespread voter fraud, so the checks and balances are there to ensure and build the confidence of the voter that Nevada is safe and secure.
The polls go from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. November 5. What if I'm in line and it's 7:01, or 7:30, or whatever time after, after the deadline?
In Nevada, you can go to any polling location to vote. You do not have to be specific. You know, we're really excited this year about Allegiant Stadium being a voting location on election day. That stadium was paid by Nevada taxpayers. A lot of our Nevadans have not, or Clark County residents, have not seen the inside of that facility. Now Clark County residents have the opportunity to walk in the building, see the building, and cast a vote and understand what that facility looks like. So yes, you can either pick a polling location that has shorter lines, or if you're in line at 7 p.m., you will be able to vote. You know, we cannot close the polls or release data until the last Nevada has voted.
A New York Times article years ago wrote about the paranoia among some voters in Nevada, especially in rural areas. A couple of years ago, they were pushing for voting by hand in some areas. Is that going to happen anywhere in Nevada?
No, by law and regulation, any county that was considering a hand count or paper ballot needed to notify the Secretary of State's office 90 days before Election Day. We had,... we've received no request.
Nevada has poll watchers. What are they allowed to see? What can they report?
That is a very, you know, managed process, because we want to maintain the integrity of the polling location. We want to maintain the decorum of the polling location, not just for the benefit of the poll workers, but for the voters. So they are welcome to come in, they're welcome to observe, if they have questions, there is an appointed individual to help answer those questions, but they are not allowed to be disruptive.
What if they're disruptive, or if they think something's going wrong, what do they do?
They reach out to their contact. They raise that issue or that concern. If they feel like they're not getting the appropriate response, they can call the election center, they can call the registrar's office, or they can call the Secretary of State's office and raise those concerns, and we will look into them.
Are there non-English options on the ballots?
Yes, that's been a priority of our office, language access is a big issue, is making sure that our communities who are here in Clark County understand the voting process in their own language. You know, the two languages that are most spoken in Clark County are Spanish and Tagalog. So it's our Filipino community that is pretty significant here, and we try to make sure we do as much as we can. Also, two, there is a hotline number that a voter can call while they're at the polling location to get real-time translations. We want to ensure everybody understands the rules. We want to ensure everybody is compliant with those rules. And so this language access issue is a big, big effort for us. But language access isn't just translation into another language the ballot initiatives, we need to get better about writing ballot initiatives in plain language that voters understand.
What kind of machines are being used?
We use Dominion in 15 of our counties. Two of our counties use ES&S.
Describe why the Dominion machines that we use are not susceptible to hacking.
They're not connected to the internet at all. There is a very specific process of how the machine votes are tabulated. They no longer at any time throughout the process, are they connected to the internet. They are independent machines. That data is transferred through a fob that goes through a strict chain of custody every place it has to go. It's logged, it's recorded. The register here in Clark County can pinpoint where that fob is at all times. And so the process is pretty secure, and it's well managed.
It took a pretty long time to tabulate the votes in 2020. How do you think this is going smoother?
You know, when I ran in '22, I had to wait till Saturday to figure out that I actually won the election. So it is a pain point in my heart, and I try. We have worked really hard over the last 18 months to understand Nevada law, to understand Nevada statute, to be able to develop a process that works in the best interest of Nevada voters across the state. I think you saw during the June primary that we had results out pretty quickly after the last voter voted in Nevada. We intend to do the same.
Guest: Cisco Aguilar, Nevada Secretary of State
