Data show AB 321 likely to increase turnout, help eliminate voting access barriers
LAS VEGAS — 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 week, the Nevada Legislature passed AB 321 to make those changes permanent, and it now awaits a signature from Gov. Steve Sisolak to become law.
“While other states move backward on voting rights, Nevada lawmakers took 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. Gov. Steve Sisolak must sign AB 321 into law.”
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.