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Elections omnibus bill amended after committee questions on electronic ballot access
Summary
The secretary of state presented SB74, an elections omnibus bill that clarifies candidate fees and includes administrative changes; committee members and intervenors focused the hearing on a proposed electronic‑ballot provision that was subsequently removed by amendment.
The Senate Finance Committee took testimony on SB74, an elections omnibus bill presented by Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and staff, who focused on fiscal impacts and administrative language updates.
The bill would consolidate candidate filing fees and clarify a list of state filing fees; it also originally included language to allow emergency absentee ballots to be delivered electronically. Secretary Aguilar said the filing‑fee consolidation primarily clarifies existing law. Chief Deputy Gabriel De Cara told the committee the office had proposed removing the emergency absentee ballot section and "we believe that there's a better way to handle the absentee ballot process ... we wanted to remove that section, now if possible." Later in the hearing Secretary Aguilar (also identified in the transcript as Cisco Gillette) emphasized, "1, it's Nevada. 2, these ballots are not returned over the Internet. 3, the amendment removes the portion of the bill dealing with these."
Opposition and concerns: Written and oral opponents flagged cybersecurity and legal compliance questions. Janine Hanson, state chair of the Independent American Party, said she did not oppose the fiscal note but was concerned about "expansion of electronic voting" in Section 1.5 and asked for clearer definitions and safeguards. Several national and advocacy groups raised security concerns: Ellen Gifford and Susan Greenhall (Free Speech for People) argued that federal guidance and risk assessments from CISA, NIST, and the FBI warn about the insecurity of internet ballot return. Susan Greenhall said "returning ballots electronically over the Internet is dangerously and unacceptably insecure." Opponents also flagged UOCAVA implementation responsibilities for military and overseas voters.
Support: Silver State Voices filed support, with Adriana Enriger testifying for the Let Nevadans Vote Coalition in favor of the bill's stated clarifications and training reimbursements for clerks.
Committee action: The Secretary's office presented an amendment that removed the emergency electronic absentee ballot language; committee discussion focused on the amendment and the cybersecurity concerns expressed by opponents. No final floor action is recorded in the transcript of this hearing.
