AB499 - Revises provisions relating to elections. (BDR 24-998)

- 83rd Session (2025) Assembly Bill No. 499–Assemblymember Yeager CHAPTER.......... AN ACT relating to elections; requiring, with certain exceptions, a registered voter show photo identification to vote in person; requiring the Department of Motor Vehicles, under certain circumstances, to issue identification cards at no charge; requiring the Secretary of State to issue digital identification cards; requiring a county clerk in certain counties to establish a certain number of locations for a voter to return his or her mail ballot to a mail ballot drop box during the period between the last day for early voting and the day before the date of the general election; authorizing a county clerk in certain counties to establish such locations; authorizing a person, under certain circumstances, to return a mail ballot to a mail ballot drop box established at such a location on behalf of a voter; requiring the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a voter services portal on the Internet website of the Office of the Secretary of State; requiring the county clerk to include certain information relating to the voter services portal on any communication to a registered voter; requiring the Department of Motor Vehicles to submit electronically to the Secretary of State certain information relating to each person who has a driver’s license or identification card issued by the Department; requiring the Secretary of State to include certain information received from the Department in the centralized, top-down database that is established by the Secretary of State for purposes of creating the statewide voter registration list; requiring certain information to be included on the return envelope for a mail ballot; revising provisions relating to curing mail ballots; requiring mail ballot drop boxes to be monitored and secured; providing that certain information on the statewide voter registration list relating to a voter is confidential and not a public record; making various other changes relating to elections; making appropriations; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law requires, under certain circumstances, a person to provide certain information to vote in person, which may include depending on the circumstances, the voter’s signature, proof of residency and identify, answering questions covering the voter’s personal data or providing additional personal data. (NRS 293.2725, 293.277, 293.285, 293.303, 293.3081, 293.3082, 293.3085, 293.3585, 293.541, 293C.270, 293C.275, 293C.292, 293C.3035, 293C.3585) Section 1.4 of this bill requires that, in order to vote in person in any election, a registered voter verify his – 2 – - 83rd Session (2025) or her identity by presenting certain forms of photo identification. If a registered voter does not have a form of photo identification, section 1.4 authorizes the registered voter to cast a provisional ballot. Sections 5.28-5.32 of this bill require such a voter to provide photo identification not later than 5 p.m. on the Friday following election day in order for such a provisional ballot to be counted. Sections 5.14-5.24 and 9.12-9.2 of this bill make conforming changes to the requirement that voters present photo identification to vote in person, including eliminating existing requirements for the signatures of voters to be verified for in person voting. Sections 5.26 and 9.22 of this bill apply the requirement for voters to show photo identification to voting at polling places established as vote centers. Sections 5.34, 5.36, 9.24 and 9.26 of this bill apply the requirement for voters to show photo identification to the period for early voting. Section 1.6 of this bill requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue an identification card at no charge to certain registered voters who are experiencing a financial hardship. Section 1.8 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to issue a digital identification card at no charge to a registered voter. Section 9.5 provides that the Secretary of State is not required to issue such digital identification cards until January 1, 2028. Existing law: (1) requires a general election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each even-numbered year; and (2) provides that the period for early voting by personal appearance begins the third Saturday preceding a general election and extends through the Friday before election day. (NRS 293.12755, 293.3568) Existing law further requires each county clerk to establish: (1) a certain number of polling places where a person can vote during the period for early voting by personal appearance and on the day of the general election; and (2) a ballot drop box at every polling place in the county, including a polling place for early voting. (NRS 293.269921, 293.2731, 293.3564) Section 1.84 of this bill: (1) requires each county clerk in certain counties to, for the period beginning on the day after the last day for early voting by personal appearance and ending on the day before the day of the general election, establish a certain number of locations where a voter may return his or her mail ballot in a mail ballot drop box; and (2) requires such locations to be open for at least 7 hours each day, but not more than 12 hours each day, during that period. Specifically, in a county whose population is 700,000 or more (currently only Clark County), a county is required to establish 10 such locations, and in a county whose population is 100,000 or more but less than 700,000 (currently only Washoe County), a county clerk is required to establish 5 such locations. Section 1.84 further authorizes a county clerk in a county whose population is less than 100,000 (currently all counties other than Clark and Washoe Counties) to establish any number of such locations and prescribe the hours for such locations to be open. Each location that is established by a county clerk pursuant to section 1.84 must be at a polling place that is used for early voting by personal appearance or a polling place for voting in person on the day of the election. Section 4.6 of this bill provides that a mail ballot dropped in a mail ballot drop box pursuant to section 1.84 counts as a vote in the general election. Section 4.8 of this bill makes a conforming change to make certain provisions relating to mail ballots generally applicable to section 1.84. Existing law requires a ballot drop box to meet certain requirements, including a requirement for the ballot drop box to be made available for use during the hours when the office of the county or city clerk or the polling place is open for business or voting, as applicable. (NRS 293.269921, 293C.26321) Sections 4.6 and 8.7 of – 3 – - 83rd Session (2025) this bill require a ballot drop box to be: (1) monitored at all times during such a period; and (2) secured during any period of time in which the ballot drop box is not available for use. Sections 4.6 and 8.7 additionally require the Secretary of State to adopt regulations to establish requirements for monitoring and securing ballot drop boxes. Existing law authorizes, at the request of a voter whose mail ballot has been prepared by or on behalf of the voter, a person authorized by the voter to return the mail ballot on behalf of the voter by mail or personal delivery to the county clerk, or any ballot drop box established in the county by the county clerk. (NRS 293.269923) Section 4.7 of this bill additionally authorizes a person, under such circumstances, to return a mail ballot on behalf of a voter by returning the mail ballot to a mail ballot drop box established pursuant to section 1.84. Section 2 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a voter services portal on the Internet website of the Office of the Secretary of State, which must allow any registered voter in the State 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 requires the county clerk to include on any communication to a registered voter a two-dimensional barcode, commonly known as a QR code, or another machine-readable code used for storing the Internet address for the voter services portal created by the Secretary of State. 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, a return envelope and instructions. (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 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 Secretary of State. Sections 4 and 8 also require the instructions include: (1) an explanation that the voter must write on the return envelope an identifying number; and (2) the QR code or other machine-readable code that directs a voter to the voter services portal. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to prescribe the form of all envelopes in which mail ballots are sent to voters and return envelopes. (NRS 293.269913, 293C.26312) Sections 4 and 8 require that the design of all envelopes used by the county or city clerk to send mail ballots to registered voters and return envelopes must be submitted to and approved by the Secretary of State prior to use in any election. 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 the Secretary of State certain information relating to each person who has a driver’s license or identification card issued by the – 4 – - 83rd Session (2025) Department. Section 3 further requires the Secretary of State to: (1) match such information to registered voters; (2) electronically enter into the centralized, top- down database such information for each registered voter as soon as practicable after matching the information to registered voters; (3) identify any person who is a registered voter and does not possess a driver’s license or identification card; and (4) indicate in the database whether each registered voter possesses a driver’s license or identification card issued by the Department. Section 7 of this bill requires the information submitted to the Secretary of State 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 Secretary of State 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) Sections 4.5 and 8.5 of this bill require that a voter who votes by mail ballot to also write on the return envelope: (1) the last four digits of his voter’s driver’s license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles; (2) if the voter does not possess a driver’s license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the last four digits of the voter’s social security number; or (3) if the voter does not possess a driver’s license issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles or a social security number, the voter identification number of the voter. 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 curing process for mail ballots. First, sections 5 and 9 provide that the clerk is required to check the return envelope to determine whether the voter included on the return envelope his or her signature and the identifying number that is required pursuant to section 4.5 or 8.5, as applicable. If the return envelope does not include a signature and identifying number, the clerk is required to contact the voter. If the return envelope includes a signature and identifying number, the clerk is required to check the voter’s signature. If the signature is verified, the voter is entitled to cast the mail ballot and the identifying number is not required to be verified. If the voter’s signature cannot be verified, the clerk is required to check the identifying number included on the return envelope. If the clerk verifies the identifying number, the voter is entitled to cast the mail ballot. If the clerk is able to verify neither the signature nor the identifying number, the clerk is required to contact the voter. Further, sections 5 and 9 require that: (1) with c [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]