Nevada voters: Know your rights at the polls on Election Day

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar says Nevada’s canvass workers are prepared to respond if national agents amusement up astatine voting sites connected Election Day Tuesday.

Speaking to a radical of UNR students past week, Aguilar said that if Immigration and Customs Enforcement oregon FBI agents crook retired astatine polling sites, his bureau volition besides beryllium acceptable to respond, moving alongside the lawyer general’s bureau and section instrumentality enforcement.

“Poll workers and polling determination managers are experts astatine de-escalation,” Aguilar said successful audio provided to the Sun by his office. “They cognize however to support their polling locations. They cognize what they request to bash if it does happen.”

Aguilar said helium has been successful interaction with Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam and Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill to marque definite everyone is prepared. Gov. Joe Lombardo, a erstwhile Clark County sheriff, has besides made wide helium doesn’t privation national agents astatine polling locations, Aguilar said.

“So this is simply a Nevada effort,” helium said. “This is simply a squad effort to guarantee we support the decorum of our polling locations due to the fact that Nevadans merit that.”

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. 592, prohibits stationing troops oregon equipped national agents astatine polling places, but Trump medication officials person sent mixed signals astir whether migration agents could crook retired astatine polling places.

In February, a Department of Homeland Security authoritative told authorities predetermination officers determination would beryllium nary ICE beingness astatine polling locations this election. But successful September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE could crook up astatine definite polling places to service a warrant oregon respond to a circumstantial threat.

FBI Director Kash Patel told a Senate committee successful September that agents and quality analysts would enactment from FBI tract offices connected predetermination information but near unfastened going to polling places connected Election Day if determination were a usurpation of law.

Aguilar told the Sun past period that voters person told him they interest astir migration enforcement showing up to intimidate them. He said his bureau has ineligible filings ready to go, but for filling successful names and jurisdiction.

“We volition record those wrong 2 seconds of immoderate denotation that a national cause is contiguous astatine a polling location,” Aguilar said.

The NAACP led a conjugation of groups that filed a national suit successful September seeking to artifact the Trump medication from deploying agents successful a mode that intimidates voters. The suit names Homeland Security, ICE, the Justice Department and the FBI.

Voting rights advocates accidental voters who spot national agents astatine oregon adjacent a polling spot should study it to section predetermination officials.

Here are different pointers for in-person voters erstwhile heading to the polls Tuesday:

Stay successful line

Under authorities law, polls unfastened astatine 7 a.m. and indispensable adjacent astatine 7 p.m. Election Day. But different conception of Nevada instrumentality requires that anyone successful enactment erstwhile the polls adjacent beryllium allowed to enactment successful enactment and formed a ballot, a authorities elections authoritative explained successful a 2020 connection during that year's primary.

The close is besides written into the Nevada Voters' Bill of Rights, which the caput of state's bureau notes was aboriginal added to the Nevada Constitution. It guarantees a elector the close to formed a ballot during aboriginal voting oregon connected Election Day if the elector is waiting successful enactment astatine the polling spot erstwhile the polls adjacent and has not already voted successful that election.

The regularisation has been tested previously.

In the June 2020 primary, immoderate Las Vegas voters said they waited 4 to 5 hours, immoderate aft the 7 p.m. closing. The authorities did not merchandise immoderate predetermination results until everyone successful enactment had voted.

The caput of state's bureau has said it volition not station the archetypal results until it confirms that each polls are closed and the past elector has voted. State instrumentality bars releasing results early.

Voters who take to ballot successful idiosyncratic are asked to bring their message ballot to surrender. Those who don't bring their message ballot tin inactive ballot by signing an affirmation that they person not already voted successful the election.

What you request to vote

Most registered Nevada voters bash not request to amusement recognition to ballot successful person. Voters motion their sanction successful the predetermination committee registry astatine the polling place.

That could alteration successful aboriginal elections. Question 7 connected Tuesday's ballot would amend the authorities Constitution to necessitate photograph recognition to ballot successful person. Voters approved the measurement successful 2024, but projected law amendments indispensable walk doubly successful Nevada.

Even if it wins transition again, it does not alteration the rules for this election.

Lombardo vetoed a 2025 bill, Assembly Bill 499, that would person enactment elector ID requirements into authorities law. He said helium supports elector ID but objected that the measure treated in-person and message voters unequally.

Identification tin travel up successful 2 situations this year. Some first-time voters who registered by message oregon online without a driver's license, authorities ID oregon Social Security fig that could beryllium matched to authorities records whitethorn beryllium asked for ID.

Nevada besides allows same-day registration during aboriginal voting and connected Election Day. Same-day registrants indispensable ballot successful idiosyncratic and amusement a valid Nevada driver's licence oregon ID card, oregon a tribal ID.

Those whose existent code is not connected their ID whitethorn request to bring an further papers proving residency.

Voters who can't supply ID erstwhile it is required whitethorn beryllium capable to formed a provisional ballot.

What canvass watchers tin and can't do

Anyone whitethorn observe voting astatine a Nevada polling place, but observers indispensable travel strict rules acceptable retired successful the state's administrative code.

Before observing, a idiosyncratic indispensable motion an acknowledgment successful a signifier acceptable by the caput of state. In it, the perceiver agrees not to speech to voters wrong the polling place, usage a cellphone oregon machine there, advocator for oregon against a candidate, enactment oregon ballot question, reason with oregon situation decisions by predetermination workers oregon interfere with voting.

Observers tin ticker voters cheque in, person ballots, determination to and from voting booths, instrumentality ballots and leave. They whitethorn besides enactment aft the polls adjacent to ticker the tract unopen down, arsenic agelong arsenic they don't interfere.

Clark County predetermination guidance says nary credentials are required, but canvass workers tin bounds the fig of observers wrong a site.

Silver State Voices and the ACLU of Nevada person recruited volunteers to service arsenic nonpartisan monitors astatine voting sites.

Firearms and intimidation

Nevada has nary statewide instrumentality specifically banning guns astatine polling places.

Lombardo vetoed Assembly Bill 105 successful June 2025. It would person prohibited firearms wrong 100 feet of a polling place, cardinal counting spot oregon ballot driblet box, with exceptions for on-duty instrumentality enforcement and immoderate others. He vetoed a akin measure successful 2023.

In his veto message, Lombardo wrote that the measure duplicated existing national and authorities protections against elector intimidation adjacent polling places. He said specified a measurement would beryllium tenable lone if radical legally allowed to transportation firearms each time kept that close connected Election Day.

Intimidating voters is illegal. The Voters' Bill of Rights guarantees the close to ballot without being intimidated, threatened oregon coerced, and intimidating voters is simply a felony nether authorities law. Aguilar has said Nevada besides precocious made intimidating canvass workers a felony.

Other rights astatine the polls

The Voters' Bill of Rights, posted by the caput of state's office, besides gives voters the close to:

• Have questions astir voting procedures answered, with an mentation of the procedures posted successful a conspicuous spot astatine the polling site.

• Return a spoiled ballot and person a caller one.

• Request assistance voting, if necessary.

• Receive acquisition connected utilizing voting instrumentality during aboriginal voting oregon connected Election Day.

• Receive and formed a ballot that intelligibly identifies candidates and accurately records the voter's choices.

Workers whitethorn besides beryllium entitled to paid clip disconnected to vote. A 1960 authorities instrumentality requires employers to springiness 1 to 3 paid hours disconnected to employees for whom it is impractical to ballot astatine immoderate different time. The magnitude depends connected the region betwixt enactment and the polling place, and employees indispensable inquire astatine slightest a time successful advance.

The leader tin take erstwhile during the displacement the worker leaves. With 2 weeks of aboriginal voting and a 12-hour model connected Election Day, an employment lawyer told the Sun, the load falls connected the idiosyncratic to amusement determination was nary different accidental to vote.

What is connected the ballot

Nevada voters volition settee a intimately watched governor's contention successful which Lombardo, a Republican, faces a stiff reelection situation from Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford.

Polls person shown a choky contest. An Emerson College Polling and KLAS-TV survey successful September recovered Ford astatine 44% and Lombardo astatine 42%, portion a late-September Noble Predictive Insights canvass showed Lombardo up 2 points.

Nevada mightiness besides beryllium successful play for Democrats looking to flip voting power of Congress, with the 2nd Congressional District contention successful Northern Nevada betwixt embattled Republican David Flippo and Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson an unusually competitory one.

The territory covers astir of Northern Nevada, including Reno and Carson City, and has been held lone by Republicans since it was created aft the 1980 census. It has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+7, meaning it voted astir 7 percent points much Republican than the federation successful the past 2 statesmanlike elections.

The legislature districts successful Southern Nevada are each besides up for grabs, but Democratic incumbents — U.S. Reps. Dina Titus, Susie Lee and Steven Horsford — person important polling edges successful their reelection bids. Republicans power the House with 218 seats to the Democrats’ 214, and 1 autarkic sits with the Republicans. Two seats are vacant, 1 past held by each party.

Nevadans volition determine 2 statewide law amendments, some returning for a required 2nd vote.

Question 6 would amend the Nevada Constitution to marque termination entree an idiosyncratic right, enshrining the state’s existing law, which permits the process done 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Question 7 would necessitate voters to contiguous government-issued photograph recognition earlier voting successful person, and necessitate message voters to database the past 4 digits of their driver’s licence oregon Social Security number, oregon a fig provided by their region clerk.

Both questions passed successful the 2024 wide election, and if approved again they volition amend the Nevada Constitution.

Further down the ballot, each statewide bureau is up for election.

The lawyer general’s spot is unfastened due to the fact that Aaron Ford is term-limited, and Democrat Nicole Cannizzaro, the authorities Senate bulk leader, faces Republican Adriana Guzmán Fralick.

The contention for caput of state, whose bureau oversees elections, is simply a rematch betwixt Democratic incumbent Cisco Aguilar and Republican Jim Marchant, whom Aguilar bushed successful 2022. Republican Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony faces Democrat Sandra Jauregui, the Assembly bulk leader, portion Republican Controller Andy Matthews is challenged by precocious schoolhouse teacher Michael MacDougall.

In the unfastened treasurer’s race, Republican Drew Johnson, a argumentation analyst, faces Democrat Tya Mathis-Coleman, the lawman authorities treasurer.

Control of the Legislature is besides astatine stake, with each 42 Assembly seats and 11 of 21 authorities Senate seats connected the ballot, on with 5 seats connected the State Board of Regents.

The ballot besides features immoderate region committee races, section races and dozens of judgeships.