A challenge was mounted earlier this month to the Nevada law that allows mail-in votes to arrive and be counted up to four days after an election.
In 2022, Clark County alone had nearly 40,000 mail ballots counted that arrived in the days after election day, roughly 5 percent of the county’s total ballot count.
At a minimum, this undercuts trust, particularly in races such as that for the U.S. Senate, where Republican Adam Laxalt led Democrat incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on election night but eventually lost by less than 8,000 votes statewide.
In Clark County, 39,915 ballots arrived after election day, while in Washoe County the total was 5,681.
Further undercutting confidence is the fact that Nevada has one of the most freewheeling ballot harvesting laws in the nation. An unlimited number of ballots can be collected and turned in by individuals.
While the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported prior to the election that there were “very few reports of organizations or people collecting ballots,” the fact that the results changed in the days after the election left some unconvinced. And even if there was little ballot harvesting in 2022, it’s almost certain there will be some this time around.
