Nevada regulation clarifies mail-ballot reporting: separates "received on Election Day" from ballots "counted"

The Office of the Secretary of State announced a technical but significant change to how Nevada will report mail-ballot activity under proposed regulation R090-25: the rule will require counties to report the number of mail ballots "received on Election Day" (defined as receipts between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Election Day) and to distinguish that figure from the number of mail ballots "counted on Election Day."

"What that means in other words is between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on Election Day, how many mail ballots were received," Deputy Secretary of State Mark Volasian said while reading the digest of Section 9. Volasian said the separation is needed because a mail ballot's lifecycle includes an initial barcode scan and duplicate-vote check, signature verification and potential cure steps, then final acceptance and tabulation — steps that can occur on different days depending on how the ballot was delivered.

A public caller, Katrin Ivanov, asked whether the regulation would allow acceptance of ballots "without a postmark" and whether that would effectively change statute. Volasian replied that "the ability for a clerk to accept a mail ballot that has not been postmarked, that is existing statute," and that the regulation does not change the law but clarifies how the office will treat postal information, including USPS barcode data, as part of determining when an item was handled by the Postal Service.

Volasian said counties will also report daily counts for mail ballots through the 30th day after the election so the state can analyze the flow of returned ballots; he reiterated that Nevada law treats ballots postmarked by Election Day as timely if received up to four days after Election Day (with additional allowance for signature curing in some cases). The new reporting is intended to help decision makers assess capacity needs, such as staffing and equipment, without changing statutory time limits for ballot acceptance.

The regulation was announced as adopted at the hearing and will go to the Legislative Commission on Feb. 26. The Elections Division said it will publish the final text and reporting templates before that meeting so counties know which daily counts to submit.