Clark County begins processing mail-in ballots; some require signature curing

Completed mail ballots for the upcoming primary election have already started trickling into Clark County’s election headquarters to be sorted, verified and eventually tabulated.

“We’re really excited that voters are already taking advantage of mailing their mail ballot in,” Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo said Wednesday.

Election Day is June 9. Two weeks of early, in-person voting kicks off Saturday.

Every registered voter in the county was mailed two pieces of mail: a sample ballot and an official ballot they can mail back at no charge or drop off at a plethora of locations, including early voting sites.

Voters can track their mail ballot through the process at myballot.nv.gov.

Some ballots require signature ‘curing’

As of Wednesday afternoon, the county had flagged at least 172 ballots that required signature verification, or “curing,” because signatures on return envelopes didn’t match the ones on record, or were missing. At least four of them had been cured already.

Voters have an opportunity to rectify their signatures. The county will contact them through the mail, as well as by phone and by email if they were provided, Portillo explained.

“If you hear anything from the Clark County Election Department regarding verifying your signature, please contact us immediately,” she said.

When ballot envelopes are brought into the center, they go through a sorting process where machines separate them by precincts and scan signatures. Software compares them with signatures on record.

Envelopes with unclear signatures are sent for manual review by two-person teams of election workers. The teams are made up of workers with different political affiliations.

If a bipartisan team can’t reach a consensus, the ballots are set aside for curing. Ballots without a signature are automatically rejected and flagged for voter verification.

Starting on Monday, election workers will take out the ballots from the envelopes and prepare them for tabulation.

“This is the step where your identity is separated from your mail ballot,” the county said.

If a ballot can’t be scanned because it’s damaged, bipartisan teams using a machine to create a new ballot, mirroring the candidates’ selections.

“Mail ballots are imprinted with a unique number used to conduct a post-election tabulation audit,” the county said.

Counting is conducted with high-speed scanners. Ballots that can’t be read are sent back for review and duplication.

After they’re counted, ballots are placed into sealed boxes and stored securely and retained for 22 months, a Nevada law requirement, the county noted.

One mail ballot per envelope

Portillo said common voter mistakes include not following instructions on sample ballots or placing more than one ballot into an envelope.

She said that the election department’s building was reworked to have bigger work areas with improved visibility for observers.

Portillo said her department is ready for the primaries.

“We’re really excited to get to this point because we’ve worked really hard — staff has worked really hard,” she said.

The workers want to make sure voters feel confident and ready, Portillo added.