Observation Questions

Observation question submissions for the 2026 General Election open on October 3rd.

2026 General Election Questions and Answers

Detailed or at-length observation questions are required to be submitted using the official question form . Responses will be provided as resources and operational timelines allow, usually within 72 hours. Acceptance and processing of submitted questions are subject to review by the Registrar of Voters' Office. Archived questions from prior elections can be viewed here.

Questions and answers submitted during the 2026 General Election.
Submitter & Date	Question	Answer
Susan W. 10/23/2026	I was observing on Tuesday 10/21 afternoon and there were two large machines on the right side of the count room near the two sets of green doors with signs that doors must remain locked. The machines were in use for awhile then were wheeled off the floor behind the Sorting machine. What are these machines used for? They were not present/visible today, Friday 10/23 afternoon when I arrived at 1:00 PM.	These machines are envelope cutters used to open mail ballot envelopes for manual ballot extraction. During periods of high ballot volume, our office uses these machines to increase extraction capacity by allowing staff to manually remove ballots from their envelopes. Our four automated extraction machines combine envelope cutting and ballot extraction into one process, while the separate envelope cutters allow staff to perform these steps manually. The machines are used as needed depending on processing volume.
Susan W. 10/23/2026	What time(s) does USPS deliver mail ballots to the ballot processing room?	USPS delivers mail ballots once each morning, generally between 8 and 8:30 a.m. On Election Day, our office also conducts an additional midday pickup of mail ballots.
Glenn "Ray" O. 10/24/2026	Do ballot runners bring ballots to Ballot Processing Center more than once per day if the Voting Center has a large number of ballots? I ask because about 1430 PDT today two runners dressed alike appeared to bring ballot envelopes to desk with [unclear handwriting] plus two workers. Thanks!	During early voting and on Election Day, ballot runners conduct one midday pickup at select vote centers. At the close of voting each day, Vote Center Managers and Assistant Managers transport the remaining ballots to the Central Counting Place. As a result, ballots from certain vote centers may be delivered more than once per day.
Glenn "Ray" O. 10/24/2026	Is the Blue Crest machine usually used for both signature verification and sorting by precinct in one step instead of two passes as shown in the Life of a Ballot chart? Thanks!	The sorter uses two passes: the first for ballot check-in, automatic signature verification and precinct-group sorting; the second to sort ballots into individual precincts.
Debra J. 10/27/2026	10-27-26 submitted via email at approximately 2:45pm On 10-26-26 at approximately 12:30pm at the Washoe County observation room, I observed the large monitor beside the observation room not showing the livestream camera images. Instead, it had the message, "updating system" displayed on the monitor. I reported the livestream was still off at 1:05pm. It came back on by 1:20pm. 1. What was the update? At about 2:33pm at the Washoe County Elections department observation room an intercom announcement with a loud beeping alarm sounding, ordering everyone to exit the building due to an emergency. When I signed out at 2:45pm I asked the female at the counter what the emergency was. She stated it was "equipment failure." 2. Who told the female clerk the cause of the evacuation was "equipment failure"? 3. What specific piece of equipment failed and what is its location? 4. Who is responsible for the "failed equipment"? 5. What is the purpose and/or function of the "failed" equipment? 6. Has the cause of the equipment failure been determined? Thank you very much. Debra J.	In the Central Counting Place, a computer is connected to a television screen to stream the observation livestream. Windows required an update and restarted the computer. The livestream itself was never turn off and was still available online, but the computer displaying it to the observation room turned off for a short time following the update. The County Administration Complex had an equipment failure with the alarm system, triggering the alarm. Alarm systems are not maintained by the Registrar of Voters office.
Barbara F. 10/29/2026	1) What is the table for set up directly inside cage? What is being done to ballots there & at what stage? (opened/unopened sorted/unsorted) 2) Where is the copy of the NRS binder that was available previously in observation room? 3) Why are workers entering + leaving the tabulating room currently before election day? 4) What do boxes delivered yesterday to the Voter Center Store contain? Appear to be sealed. Today some seem to be gone. 5) When a ballot causes error on scanner + it's removed for group where does it go?	The table is used for batching mail ballot envelopes. During this process, election workers organize ballot envelopes from the same precinct into batches of up to 50 for processing. The NRS binder previously available in the observation room was a 2024 version and was removed. We will look into providing an updated copy of NRS Title 24 for observers to reference. Election workers are utilizing the workstations within the tabulation room to conduct ballot adjudication. Additional adjudication stations were necessary to avoid a bottleneck, so stations in tabulation are being used. Throughout early voting, the Vote Center Store was regularly resupplied with materials and equipment needed to support vote center operations. Vote center managers accessed these supplies as needed, which accounts for materials being delivered and subsequently removed. Ballots that cannot be successfully scanned are processed through duplication, during which a bipartisan team recreates the voter's selections on a new ballot that can be scanned. The duplicated ballot is then scanned and counted, while the original ballot is securely retained as part of the election record.