Workers train on new voter check-in

With less than six weeks to go until voters start casting ballots, election workers are learning how to check people in when early in-person voting starts on Oct. 19.

The process has come a long way since the days when someone would look up a voter’s names in a book and require a signature in the next box.

On Friday, around 10 election workers began training on a new system that centralizes the voter rolls across the Silver State.

“This went live three weeks ago, it’s a completely new statewide system,” Clerk-Treasurer Amy Burgans said as workers were setting up the system. “Basically, we are training.”

Friday’s cadre of election workers will then train the 120 other election workers on the system to prepare for the day balloting begins.

The new system just handles checking in voters and unlike voting machines are very much online.

“It is absolutely hooked to the internet, but it doesn’t track the vote, it only tracks who has voted,” Burgans said. “The voting machines are the same system as before.”

The voting machines are isolated from the internet, with the only interaction between the two systems a plastic card voters receive once they’re checked in.

Voter names and whether they’ve voted are essentially public record, while who they voted for is confidential.

The system works around an iPad mounted on a swivel, Burgans said as she demonstrated the system.

An election worker looks up a name and flips the iPad to where the voter can see it to confirm the information and read the warning that voting twice is a crime. Then they sign using a stylus before the worker flips it back over and compares the signature.

“The nice thing about this is that the majority of signatures are from DMV, so it’s apples to apples,” Burgans said.

The worker then programs the plastic card, a version of which has been in use at the machines for years, hands it to the voter who takes it to the machine and casts their ballot.

“The software keeps track how many people checked in on the machine,” Burgans said. “The machines all talk to each other in each voting location and sends the information back to the main system, so the whole state knows. If someone votes here and travels to Lyon or up to Carson, the election workers will know they’ve already voted.”

Ballots that are mailed in will be processed in a similar manner as part of the ballot deconstruction that occurs during the electionas they come in.

Burgans credited the clerks and registrars across the state.

“I don’t think the 15 clerks and two registrars have received enough credit,” she said. “We have worked our butts off. We’ve run three mock elections, and I am coordinating another one on behalf of the state that will be the final one to make sure it works.”

The new system centralizes voter registration across the state, in an effort to streamline the election process and enhance the integrity of voter rolls.

“The county has been actively involved in the development and implementation of this new system, prioritizing the accuracy and security of our voter rolls throughout the transition,” said Burgans. “The importance of this election, like every election, cannot be overstated, and we are committed to maintaining the highest standards in managing our elections.”

In 2021, Nevada’s Legislature passed Assembly Bill 422, mandating the creation of a Statewide Voter Registration System with a 2024 implementation deadline.

Those who choose to vote in person will notice some changes in the check-in and ballot issuance processes.

Voters can also check their voter registration themselves by visiting registertovote.nv.gov prior to the General Election.