Registrar of Voters

Voter Roll Maintenance

When someone registers to vote in Nevada, election officials confirm eligibility, including verifying identity. Eligible voters are added to the state’s voter roll. Washoe County maintains accurate rolls by following federal and state law to protect voters and ensure elections are accurate, fair, and secure. Nevada’s voter rolls are carefully and regularly updated.

Washoe County works closely with other County Clerks across Nevada, as well as the the Secretary of State's office, to process new registrations, send confirmation notices when a voter’s status may have changed, handle challenges to registrations, and remove voters who are no longer eligible to vote in Nevada.

 

The National Voter Registration Act

Voter roll maintenance is conducted in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), which expanded access to voter registration. To protect registered voters, the NVRA requires maintenance to be uniform and nondiscriminatory.

The NVRA includes safeguards to prevent eligible voters from being removed in error. Generally, routine list maintenance must be completed at least 90 days before an election, with reasonable exceptions such as a voter requesting cancellation or official notice of a death.

The NVRA also prohibits canceling a registration due to a suspected address change until the voter has been notified, failed to respond, and then not voted in two consecutive federal general elections.

 

Ensuring Deceased Registrants Are Removed

Election officials receive daily records from the Office of Vital Records to identify deceased voters and notify the appropriate county to cancel those registrations. Additionally, Nevada is a founding member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit organization assisting states to improve the accuracy of their voter rolls. Every 60 days, Nevada’s voter registration records and DMV records are uploaded to ERIC and compared against data supplied by the other 20 participating ERIC states (including Washington, D.C.), the Social Security Death Index, and the U.S. Postal Service’s National Change of Address database in an effort to identify deceased individuals and those registered to vote in more than one state. Any potential duplications or deceased voters are reported to the Secretary of State’s office and local election officials for further investigation and processing, and as appropriate, removal from or correction of the voter roll.

 

Confirming Whether a Voter Has Moved

Officials regularly review reliable government data for signs that a registrant may have moved. This includes information from ERIC and the United States Postal Service National Change of Address database.

Process:

• Notice to the voter: If evidence suggests a move, a forwardable confirmation notice is mailed.
• Voter response: The voter can confirm no move or report a new address. Some voters may not respond, or the notice may be returned undeliverable.
• Changes to the roll: Depending on the response, officials may leave the registration unchanged, update the address within Nevada, or move the voter to the inactive list. Inactive voters do not receive a mail ballot but may still vote if eligible. If a voter does not respond and does not vote in two federal general elections in a row, their registration may be canceled.

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