Legislature must pass AB 321 to make reforms permanent, increase turnout, and eliminate voting access barriers
LAS VEGAS — New data analysis by All Voting is Local Nevada, a member of the Let Nevadans Vote Coalition, revealed that the Nevada Legislature’s 2020 election reforms, such as mailing a ballot with prepaid return postage to every active, registered voter, helped increase turnout for every demographic group in the state, with Native American voters having the highest turnout of any group.
The 2020 reforms were part of AB 4, a legislative election package introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, that only applies during a state of emergency. This year, Nevada Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson has introduced AB 321 to make those changes permanent.
“While other states move backward on voting rights, Nevada lawmakers have an opportunity to take bold action to protect our freedom to vote,” said Kerry Durmick, All Voting is Local Nevada state director. “The data are clear: Nevada voters are familiar, comfortable, and supportive of the reforms included in AB 321.”
The data analysis reveals the following:
- Increasing safe options for casting a ballot helped increase turnout among every demographic group.
- In 2016, only 7% of Nevada voters cast a mailed ballot. In 2020, 48% of Nevada voters cast a mailed ballot.
- Native American voters in Nevada had the highest turnout of all demographic groups in 2020. The turnout rate was up 25% from 2016.
- Voters living in rural Nevada utilized vote-by-mail the most of voters in any area of the state, with 53% using vote-by-mail.
Read the full data analysis here.