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Washoe County proclaims National Voter Registration Day; residents press registrar for data, continuity plans
Summary
The Board of County Commissioners unanimously proclaimed Sept. 16 National Voter Registration Day and heard public demands for clearer continuity-of-operations plans, ballot returns breakdowns and verification measures from residents and election critics.
The Washoe County Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted a proclamation on Sept. 16 declaring Sept. 16 National Voter Registration Day and received a presentation from Registrar of Voters Andrew McDonald on registration methods and statistics. McDonald and deputy registrars outlined how to register and noted roughly 344,000 active registered voters in the county.
"There's 14% or 56,000 Washoe County residents that are still not registered to vote," Andrew McDonald told the commission during the proclamation presentation, urging residents to register online, in person or by mail and pointing to online resources.
Public comment, however, centered on election operations, data reporting and continuity planning. Several speakers asked for more granular reporting of how ballots are returned and counted, including how many ballots are returned via drop box, in-person drop-off and by postal service. Tracy Thomas told the commission she was "especially concerned" the registrar's summary had not addressed details raised in an earlier staff memo and asked whether the county would provide a clear statement on whether federal-office ballots could be counted after election day and how ballots are categorized by method.
Nicholas Saint John, who has circulated an "election integrity" report to the commission, urged the board to place his findings on a future agenda and cited what he described as anomalies in the ROV's early-voting statistics and voter-roll changes during the 2024 cycle. He said his analysis identified thousands of roll removals during the election and urged a public review of voter-roll maintenance practices.
Registrar Andrew McDonald offered to meet individually with concerned residents; he and deputy registrars Reggie Greer and Addie Veda also described milestones in voting rights history and the county's registration tools. McDonald said the registrar's office can provide a mailed registration form on request and noted qualifying requirements: U.S. citizenship, age 18 by election day (17 to pre-register), 30 days' residency in Washoe County and proof of ID and residency.
Commissioners voted to adopt the proclamation after public comment; the vote was unanimous. Several commissioners acknowledged the public's demand for more transparency on election operations and encouraged the registrar to meet privately with residents who requested additional data or continuity plans.
No changes to election procedures were approved at the meeting. Registrar staff committed to following up with residents who requested meetings and to providing additional context about reporting categories and continuity-of-operations planning where appropriate.
