Voter photo bill goes to Senate Finance

A Senate committee is taking a pass on Secretary of State Ross Miller’s plan to digitize Nevada polling records and add voter photos to the database.

The Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections referred SB63 to the Senate Finance Committee without recommendation Thursday.

Under the plan, photos from Department of Motor Vehicle records would be uploaded to election system, giving poll workers the ability to visually verify a voter. Currently, signatures kept in paper-bound books are compared with signatures of voters who sign in before they are given ballots.

For people who don’t have a DMV-issued identification, poll workers would be on hand to take a voter’s photo.

Cost estimates have ranged from $800,000 to $3 million.

Miller says upgrading the system will save money in the long run.