Student Voting Guide | Nevada
Registration
http://sos.state.nv.us/elections/ (registration form available online)
If you register by mail, your registration must be completed by the fifth Sunday, or 30 days for a general election held on a Tuesday, before an election.[1] The county clerk will accept applications from a voter registration agency if the application was completed by the fifth Sunday, or 30 days for a general election held on a Tuesday, no later than 5 days after this date.[2] Your registration form must be postmarked no more than three days after you have signed and dated it.[3] If you are registering in person at the office of the county clerk, you can register until the third Tuesday (or 21 days if the election is on a Tuesday) before an election.[4] You will also be asked to show ID if you register in person (see below).[5]
You can register to vote if you will be 18 by the next primary or general election,[6] and you can vote in a primary election if you will be 18 by the next general election.[7]
Residency
At School. In Nevada, if you actually reside in the state, intend for your school address to be your home, and do not have a solid plan to move back to the place where you lived before school, you should be able to qualify as a resident for voting purposes.[8] Nevada law has strong protections for students.[9]
At Home. Students who lived in Nevada prior to attending school and who wish to establish or keep their Nevada voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ address), should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Nevada allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the county or state to attend school. The only way you will lose this residency is if you “abandon” it by asserting residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered an abandonment of residency in Nevada, some judges or officials might view it as such.
Challenges to Residency. Any voter who is registered in your precinct can challenge your eligibility to vote based on residency within a short window of time before an election.[10] In order to do so, they must file a challenge in writing between the thirtieth day and twenty-fifth days before an election.[11] The challenge must be based on personal knowledge and multiple voters cannot be challenged at once.[12] You will get notice of the challenge mailed to you within five days; the challenge is also referred to the district attorney.[13] The district attorney must investigate within two weeks and if the district attorney decides you are not a resident for voting purposes, they will start court proceedings to cancel your registration; the clerk will only cancel your registration if a court orders them to.[14]
Your eligibility to vote based on residency can only be challenged at the polls if a written challenge on that basis was filed with the county clerk following the process outlined above.[15] You will have to swear an oath that you live at your registration address, [16] and you will have to provide identification that has your address on it.[17] Even if you refuse to sign an oath or show ID, you can still vote in any race open to all voters in your county by going to the county clerk’s office.[18]
Identification
Nevada requires ID from first-time voters who register by mail and whose driver’s license number, non-driver ID number, or Social Security number cannot be matched to existing records.[19] You can present this ID either when you register, or when you vote in person or by absentee ballot.[20] Acceptable forms of ID for first-time voters who register by mail include current and valid photo ID—including Nevada driver’s licenses or non-driver’s ID cards - or a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or government document that shows your name and address.[21] You can also show a rent receipt with a pre-printed address, a pre-printed check, a credit card statement, or your proof of car insurance.[22] Student IDs are acceptable identification, as are student housing bills and cell phone bills if they have your current address on them, and online printouts are also fine.[23] Nevada also asks those who register in person to show one of the same forms ID.[24] Voters who do not show ID at that time will be required to submit ID before casting a ballot, either by mail or in person.[25]
Voters who have not met these ID requirements will still be allowed to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day;[26] this ballot will be counted as long as you provide the county or city clerk with proper ID by 5 pm on the Friday after Election Day.[27]
Absentee Voting
Nevada is a no-fault absentee state—you do not need a reason for voting absentee.[28] Your application for an absentee ballot must be received by 5 p.m. on the seventh day before the election,[29] and can be mailed or faxed.[30] Contact your county clerk’s office for an application.
Your absentee ballot must be received by your county clerk by the close of polls on Election Day to be valid.[31] If you are a first-time voter who registered by mail, you must include a copy of a valid form of identification (see above) with your absentee ballot application or your ballot.[32] Neither your ballot nor your application need be witnessed.
Early Voting
As a convenience to voters, Nevada has early voting beginning on the 3rd Saturday before an election and ending on the Friday before Election Day.[33] At early voting sites, you can vote any precinct’s ballot for that county. If you do not consider your school address to be your permanent address, or if you have not changed your residence yet, then early voting provides an opportunity to vote a ballot at the residence from which you are absent.
Last Updated in April 2010
[1] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.560(5).
[2] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. §293.504(3).
[3] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.5235.
[4] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.560.
[5] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.517 (LexisNexis 2009).
[6] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.485.
[7] FairVote “Voting Age and Registration,” available at http://www.fairvote.org/youth-preregistration-fact-sheet.
[8] 1971 Nev. AG LEXIS 110.
[9] 1971 Nev. AG LEXIS 110.
[10] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.547(2) (LexisNexis 2009).
[11] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.547(1).
[12] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.547(2).
[13] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.547(5)(b) (LexisNexis 2009).
[14] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.547(6).
[15] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.303(1)(b).
[16] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.303(2)(c).
[17] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.303(7).
[18] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 293.303(5), 293.304 (LexisNexis 2009).
[19] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.2725(2).
[20] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.2725(2).
[21] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.2725(2).
[22] http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=77#id (last visited on April 22, 2010).
[23] Interview with Matt Griffin, Deputy Secretary of State for Elections, Office of the Secretary of State of Nevada (Apr. 17, 2008).
[24] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.517 (LexisNexis 2009).
[25] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.517.
[26] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.3081(2).
[27] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.3085(b).
[28] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.313 (LexisNexis 2009).
[29] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.313(3)(b).
[30] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.315(1).
[31] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.317.
[32] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.2725(1)(b).
[33] Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 293.3568(1).
