Voters in Nevada need more options.
It was a positive move when the Nevada Legislature recently approved mailing ballots to all voters statewide. But we need to do more. The pandemic doesn't seem to be going anywhere, while the GOP continues to develop schemes to make it more difficult to vote. Nevada voters need to be given as many options as possible when casting their ballots in this year's crucial election.
The new Postmaster General, a Trump donor, has been making changes at the Postal Service that could slow down mail delivery. This may make some voters wary of having their vote counted if they mail it in, especially if they wait until just before Election Day to send it. Thus, voters should also have the option to drop off their completed ballots at ANY voting location in their county, either during Early Voting or on Election Day. Each location should have a special table or drop box specifically for this purpose, so voters don't have to wait in line just to drop off a completed paper ballot. This would allow the County Registrar to receive more ballots by Election Day, speeding up the counting of votes and tabulation of results.
Also there should be a separate table and line for new voters wishing to register that day, or for voters needing to change their registration address. This would avoid holding up the voting line to perform these operations.
Some will want to vote by machine in person, for whatever reason. Perhaps they didn't receive a mail ballot, they're a new voter, or they just feel more comfortable voting that way. During the primary, Washoe County only had one in-person voting location on Election Day, and Clark County had only three, requiring voters to wait in line up to eight hours to cast their votes. Obviously, this is ridiculous and unacceptable, especially during a pandemic when people are trying to practice social distancing.
The number, hours and size of voting locations must be expanded. There should be at least 3 weeks of Early Voting, especially in Clark and Washoe Counties. In the past, some Early Voting locations have held elections in tiny rooms which do not allow social distancing. Also, at busy times, there are often long lines to vote. The answer to these problems is to provide many more Early Voting locations, and place them in large venues, such as school gymnasiums or hotel ballrooms, so that tables, lines and voting machines can be widely spaced. Also, hours should be extended to include evenings and weekends, as well as early mornings on some days. These measures will space out the crowds, both physically and time-wise, allowing for shorter lines, social distancing, and a safer voting experience, which could result in higher turnout.
Finally, we know Russia is planning to interfere in our elections again. County Registrars must ensure that all electronic vote-counting computers are completely secured. They must be checked by security experts for malware, and they can't be connected to the internet. It should be noted that it is not necessary for hackers to attack hundreds of individual voting machines to rig an election. A few lines of code added to a county's main computer that tabulates the results is all that's needed to sway the outcome.
The state legislature must assure that funding is in place to implement these proposals, because nothing is more important and fundamental than our right to have free and fair elections. The Secretary of State, as well as the County Registrars across the state, should start preparing to implement these measures immediately so that Nevada can have a smooth, accurate and safe election this year.
