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Legislators consider daily ballot reporting, voter lists and changes to signature curing process
Summary
Assemblymember Steve Yeager told the committee Assembly Bill 496 would require county clerks to post daily data during elections about mail ballots and provisional ballots and to publish a monthly downloadable alphabetical list of registered voters.
Assemblymember Steve Yeager presented Assembly Bill 496 as a set of reforms to increase public transparency about outstanding mail ballots and provisional ballots and to reduce the number of otherwise-valid votes rejected for administrative reasons.
The measure would require county and city clerks to post daily information—starting the day after early voting begins and running through the day after the canvass—on mail ballots (returned to a drop box, returned by mail, requiring curing, successfully cured) and provisional ballots (cast, counted and not counted). The sponsor submitted a proposed amendment during the hearing to move the daily publication deadline from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to allow clerks more time to compile data.
Yeager described the change as necessary after the last election, when inconsistent and incomplete reporting generated public confusion. "By 05:00 every night, everyone had the same information to work off of and knew exactly how many ballots were out there and what stage of the process they were in," he said.
Sections of the bill would also require county clerks to post an alphabetical list of registered voters on the first business day of each month and include voter identification numbers on public lists. Yeager and Bradley Schrager, the sponsor’s counsel, said the list formalizes access that already exists but would make it free and regularly available for download. The proposal preserves existing confidentiality options so individuals may request that certain information be masked.
To reduce envelope errors and improve signature curing, the bill would require mail ballot return envelopes to include the voter's printed name and an optional phone number field so clerks can contact voters quickly when a signature requires verification. A proposed amendment would require clerks to publish daily lists of ballots flagged for curing, the reason for the cure request (to be categorized by the Secretary of State by regulation), and the ballots that have been cured.
County clerks and registrars testified neutral and sought clarifications about terminology, business days versus calendar hours, data sources (for example, how to report ballots currently in custody of U.S. Postal Service), and the mechanics of implementing daily statewide and county reports. Clark County and Washoe County staff said they were working with sponsors and the Secretary of State on technical changes and noted that a top-down statewide data system under development could help produce the required reporting.
Opponents at public comment raised privacy and cost concerns about monthly posting of voter lists and questioned whether monthly publication was necessary outside election periods. Supporters and neutral witnesses emphasized that consistent, daily public data is intended to reduce confusion and improve the ability of campaigns and parties to help voters cure defective signatures promptly.
No formal vote was recorded in committee. Sponsors said they would continue technical negotiations with clerks and may offer amendments to refine reporting definitions and timelines.
