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Registrar outlines voter-roll cleanup, Nevada’s first ADA curbside voting and new signature-verification
Summary
Washoe County Registrar Andrew McDonald told commissioners the office inactivated 55,501 and canceled 25,012 voter records as part of roll maintenance, is creating 24 new precincts, will deploy Nevada’s first ADA curbside voting program for June 2026 and will use automatic signature-verification with a conservative threshold after a 13,416-signature sample audit.
Andrew McDonald, Washoe County’s registrar of voters, briefed the Board of County Commissioners on the office’s preparations for the 2026 election cycle, emphasizing roll maintenance, accessibility and new vote-processing technology.
"When you voted me in 13 months ago, I made a commitment to maintaining those voter rolls ... Starting with bulk list maintenance ... I have inactivated 55,501 voters and canceled 25,012 voters," McDonald said, describing the office’s efforts to mark records inactive when mail is returned or voters do not respond to address-verification notices.
McDonald outlined operational changes intended to improve access and integrity. The office plans 22 vote centers for the June primary and is introducing what he called "Nevada's first ADA curbside voting program," which will let voters who cannot leave their vehicles vote from an accessible parking spot with a ballot printed and cast by election officials inside the vote center.
On signature verification, McDonald said the county will deploy automatic signature-verification software on its new mail-ballot sorter. He reported that a sample audit of 13,416 signatures from the 2024 general election produced a recommended threshold score of 72. "A special score of 72 resulted in 0 signatures failing the audit," he said, adding that ballots below the threshold would still be flagged for bipartisan manual review.
McDonald also described a voter-transparency project that will publish periodic hashed snapshots of voter-registration data so third parties can confirm files have not been altered. He told commissioners the county is building a website with instructions, definitions and timelines for voters and observers.
Commissioners asked for additional breakdowns by precinct and district and pressed for ongoing SOP updates and public communication plans. McDonald said some standard operating procedures remain a work in progress and that the office will continue to "evergreen" those documents while leaning on state systems and county support.
Key dates McDonald cited include sample-ballot distribution deadlines in late May, early voting from May 23 through June 5, election day on June 9, and a canvass date moved to June 18 to accommodate the Juneteenth federal holiday.
The board thanked McDonald and his staff for the work and invited the public to attend an open-house demonstration of the new ballot-marking and mail-processing equipment at a warehouse event March 24.
