On Friday, Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske asked Nevada county clerks to accept mail-in voter registration applications postmarked as late as Tuesday, October 11. Project Vote’s president, Michael Slater, issued the following statement in response:
“Project Vote congratulates Sec. Cegavske on taking a common-sense response to voter registration deadlines, and ensuring that Nevada residents who make a good faith effort to register will be able to vote this November.
“Project Vote and other voting rights advocates have raised concerns over how many states are interpreting the voter registration deadlines that fall on this holiday weekend. Some states have indicated that they would not accept applications postmarked later than Saturday, October 8, which is outside the 30-day deadline established by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). The better practice in states with a 30-day deadline is to accept mail-in voter registration applications with a post-mark by Tuesday, October 11, 2016, the first day that US Postal Service is available following the deadline.
“Project Vote raised this issue in a letter to several states, as did U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
“So we commend Sec. Cegavske, who asked Nevada’s 17 county clerks to extend the deadline to register to vote by mail to October 11. Secretary Cegavske said she ‘wanted to ensure that all Nevadans are afforded the opportunity to register to vote in accordance with state and federal law.’ The Secretary also indicated that she plans to submit a bill to the state legislature during the 2017 session to resolve this issue permanently.
“We are very pleased that the Nevada Secretary of State acted so quickly to protect Nevada voters. We hope that other election officials will follow Sec. Cegavske’s example and take steps to ensure that all eligible citizens can register, vote, and have their ballots counted.”
