In the heat of election season, you’re possible to hear false claims that Nevada’s elections are “rigged,” in giant half because the state accepts mail ballots after Election Day.
Two days after Election Day in 2022, Donald Trump claimed that ultimate outcomes were unknown because the state wished “more time to cheat.” Jim Marchant, the Republican nominee for secretary of state in 2022 and again this yr, said he lost because of “cheating,” citing the reality that he was forward at one level during poll counting.
Below, The Indy separates reality from fiction in the poll counting discourse.
What are Nevada’s guidelines on accepting ballots after Election Day?
Nevada law permits ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted as long as they are obtained by 5 p.m. on the Saturday following Election Day. Ballots with an unclear or lacking postmark will rely if obtained before 5 p.m. on the Friday after Election Day.
These guidelines adopted the passage of a wide-ranging 2021 law — staunchly opposed by Republicans — that made everlasting the pandemic-induced enlargement of mail voting. In the 2020 election, ballots postmarked by Election Day could rely if obtained within a week, but the 2021 invoice shortened it to 4 days.
During the 2024 election cycle, Republicans lost state and federal lawsuits that sought to finish post-Election Day poll counting. In a case about a related law in Mississippi, the U.S. Supreme Court also ruled earlier this yr that counting ballots after Election Day was legal.
How many ballots come in after Election Day?
The quantity of ballots arriving after Election Day is a small proportion of general votes, though they can still swing close races.
In the 2024 basic election, about 9,500 Clark County ballots and 2,400 Washoe County ballots were obtained post-Election Day, less than 1 p.c of all ballots forged in the two counties.
In the 2022 basic election, about 40,000 Clark County ballots and 5,700 Washoe County votes were obtained after Election Day. This made up 5.8 p.c of all ballots obtained in Clark County and 2.9 p.c in Washoe County.
Are these legal guidelines to blame for Nevada’s gradual counting?
The acceptance of ballots post-Election Day means it will take longer for the public to have a full image of Nevada’s outcomes.
However, just because election outcomes come in after Election Day, it doesn’t suggest the poll was returned after Election Day. For instance, in the 2024 basic election, the outcomes of 54,000 Clark County ballots dropped off on Election Day were not launched until the next day, which frustrated Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D). These made up more than 5 instances as many ballots really obtained after Election Day.
During the 2025 legislative session, Aguilar proposed a invoice to present native election places of work with more sources and supported a proposal to beef up poll drop box capability before Election Day. Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed both proposals, saying that the first invoice “centralizes too much authority” in the secretary of state’s workplace, while the latter did not embody ample security measures for the drop packing containers.
Another purpose why Nevada’s first outcomes have a tendency to come in late on election evening is a law that prohibits election officers from releasing outcomes until the ultimate individual in line at an Election Day polling website has voted.
During the 2024 basic election, the first outcomes were posted at around 10 p.m.
Are there any indicators of these guidelines altering?
There are no indications that Democrats, who control the state Legislature, are in altering these legal guidelines.
In the 2023 legislative session, Lombardo (R) proposed a invoice that would have required all mail ballots to be obtained by the close of polls on Election Day, but it never obtained a listening to. During the 2025 session, Sen. Lisa Krasner (R-Reno) sponsored a invoice to require all ballots mailed to an election clerk to be postmarked by the finish of early voting and obtained before polls close on Election Day. It also never obtained a listening to.
Ahead of the 2025 session, Lombardo also said he would take into account a poll initiative on the subject if the Legislature did not change the acceptance guidelines, but that never materialized.