Section 2 of this bill requires each county clerk to establish and maintain a voter services portal on the Internet website of the office of the county clerk, which must allow any registered voter in the county to: (1) review his or her voter registration information; (2) print any form necessary to update his or her voter registration information; (3) view his or her sample ballot; and (4) obtain the location of any polling place where the registered voter may vote or deliver a mail ballot to a ballot drop box. Section 2 further authorizes a county clerk to request the assistance of the Secretary of State to establish and maintain the voter services portal. Existing law requires, with certain exceptions, the county or city clerk to send to each active registered voter certain information relating to voting by mail, including a mail ballot and a return envelope. (NRS 293.269913, 293C.26312) Sections 4 and 8 of this bill require the return envelope for a mail ballot to include: (1) a space for the voter to voluntarily write certain identifying information; and (2) a QR code or other machine-readable code that directs a voter to the voter services portal on the Internet website of the office of the county clerk. Existing law requires: (1) the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a centralized, top-down database that collects and stores information relating to the preregistration of persons and the registration of electors from all the counties in this State; and (2) each county clerk to use the database to collect and maintain all records of preregistration and registration to vote. Under existing law, the Secretary of State is required to: (1) use the voter registration information collected in the database to create the official statewide voter registration list, which serves as the single method for storing and managing the official list of registered voters in this State; and (2) enter into a cooperative agreement with the Department of Motor Vehicles to match information in the database of the statewide voter registration list with information in the appropriate database of the Department to verify the accuracy of the information in an application to register to vote. (NRS 293.675) Section 3 of this bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, on a regular basis, to submit electronically to each county clerk certain information relating to each person who has a driver's license or identification card issued by the Department. Section 3 further requires the county clerk to: (1) match such information to registered voters in the county; (2) electronically enter into the centralized, top-down database such information for each registered voter in the county as soon as practicable after matching the information to registered voters in the county; (3) identify any person who is a registered voter in the county and does not have a driver's license or identification card; and (4) indicate in the database whether each registered voter in the county has a driver's license or identification card issued by the Department. Section 7 of this bill requires the information submitted to the county clerk by the Department to be included on the statewide voter registration list. Existing law provides that certain information relating to a registered voter is confidential and not a public record. (NRS 293.558) Section 6 of this bill provides that the information submitted to the county clerk by the Department pursuant to section 3 is also confidential and not a public record. Existing law requires a voter who votes by mail to affix his or her signature in the space provided on the return envelope of a mail ballot and the county clerk or city clerk to check the signature to verify the identity of the voter. (NRS 293.269917, 293.269927, 293C.26316, 293C.26327) Existing law provides that if the county clerk or city clerk determines when checking the signature used for the mail ballot that the voter failed to affix his or her signature or failed to affix it in the manner required by law or that there is a reasonable question of fact as to whether the signature used for the mail ballot matches the signature of the voter, the clerk is required to contact the voter and advise the voter of the procedures to provide a signature or a confirmation, as applicable. For the mail ballot to be counted, the voter must provide a signature or a confirmation, as applicable, not later than 5 p.m. on the sixth day following the election. (NRS 293.269927, 293C.26327) Sections 5 and 9 of this bill make various changes to the signature curing process. First, sections 5 and 9 provide that if the voter included on the return envelope the last four digits of the voter's driver's license, the last four digits of the voter's social security number or the voter's voter identification number and such information is confirmed by the clerk to be accurate, the voter is entitled to cast the ballot and the signature is not required to be verified. If the voter did not include such information on the return envelope or the information provided on the return envelope is not accurate, the clerk or an employee in the office of the clerk is required to check the signature. Second, sections 5 and 9 require that: (1) the county clerk and city clerk ensure that employees are available by telephone on evenings and weekends during the signature curing period; and (2) any voicemail message or hold message used by the office of the clerk provides instructions on how a voter may provide a signature or a signature confirmation. Finally, sections 5 and 9 authorize a voter to confirm his or her signature on the return envelope by electronic mail or text message.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 293.269913, 293.269927, 293.558, 293.675, 293C.26312, 293C.26327
BDR: 293.269913, 293.269927, 293.558, 293.675, 293C.26312, 293C.26327