President Trump's push for election overhaul faces Nevada backlash

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order on elections that calls for states to be penalized for noncompliance has raised concerns with Nevada’s top elections official.

The order’s provision barring the counting of ballots received after Election Day for federal races directly conflicts with Nevada law, which permits mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be accepted up to four days later and counted.

States have historically had independence to shape their own election laws.

The U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause gives state legislatures the ability to establish the time, place and manner of conducting elections for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

That right was something Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, made note of when reviewing Trump’s order from Tuesday.

“The U.S. Constitution clearly gives the authority to administer elections to the states, and Nevada law has checks and balances in place to ensure that our elections work for the voters,” Aguilar said in a statement. “The voters of Nevada will continue to be our priority, because access to the ballot box is how our citizens hold the government accountable.”

The order assigns Attorney General Pam Bondi to review state and local government for compliance with investigations and the prosecution of election crimes. Department of Justice-allotted grants or funds could be withheld for noncompliance, according to the order.

Cooperation includes cracking down on engagement “in unlawful conduct to interfere in the election process,” which is complicated by the fact that Trump cites counting ballots received after Election Day as a prohibited practice.

Aguilar is one among many state officials across the country calling the order “federal overreach,” citing existing voter list maintenance processes and voter verifiable paper audit trails.

“We are working with counsel to research our options and will determine how to proceed with the interest of Nevada’s voters and their civil rights in mind,” Aguilar added.

Like many of Trump’s executive actions in his initial days back in office, the elections order also has an unclear future.

The administration is facing legal challenges for several of Trump’s executive orders, including his call to dismantle the Department of Education, his ban on transgender people serving in the military, and his tightening of immigration policy.

Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias — who has been singled out by Trump for “abuse” of the legal system — wrote on his platform, Democracy Docket, that his team would sue to block the executive order on elections and “any other attempts to undermine free and fair elections.”

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has joined fellow Democratic attorneys general who have been suing Trump’s administration regularly since January. Ford’s office said it was examining Trump’s order and evaluating potential legal options as of Wednesday afternoon.

Nevada is regularly one of the last states to call its elections, with critics citing the deadline for receiving mail-ballots as the problem.

Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, commended Trump’s actions and called for bipartisan efforts to move forward on the provisions of the executive order. Lombardo in his State of the State address in January cited ensuring mail ballots are received by the time polls close on Election Day as a priority for him.

“Gov. Lombardo supports President Trump’s efforts to make our elections more secure, timely and efficient,” Elizabeth Ray, the governor’s spokesperson, said in a statement to the Sun. “And he hopes both Congress and the Nevada state Legislature will take similar steps to secure our elections.”

Aguilar has previously said mail ballots that arrived after Election Day accounted for around 1% of the ballots cast and weren’t the cause for delays in results. Rather, he said ballots collected at election centers on Election Day were a setback. His office has been working on creating processes to handle the capacity.

Sadmira Ramic, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said the order was a clear continuation of the president’s agenda to spread “false narratives” about elections. Trump has wrongly claimed his 2020 presidential loss to Joe Biden was the product of election fraud; multiple lawsuits in swing states were thrown out and no substantial instances of fraud were found in that election.

Ramic said the ongoing legal challenges to Trump’s bevy of executive orders were clogging up the courts, but that those lawsuits were necessary.

“It is a lot of resources,” Ramic said. “But the court is there to be that check when you see someone such as President Trump trying to exceed their force.”

The elections order also mandates that individuals present documents such as birth certificates or passports when registering to vote. Similar efforts at such a requirement have been met with immediate backlash from voting rights advocates, who argue it would disproportionately affect marginalized communities.

Trump’s order comes as Republicans have been gathering around baseless claims that noncitizens have been illegally voting in elections.

Nevada voters in 2024 approved a ballot initiative that requires presenting photo identification before voting in person or providing a Social Security or driver’s license number if voting by mail. It’s already a requirement to present identification when registering to vote.

The initiative must be approved again by voters in 2026 to amend the Nevada Constitution to require voter ID.

Aguilar stressed that the people best prepared to run elections are those at the local level.

“We know that the federal government has never adequately funded elections,” Aguilar said in a statement. “We are hopeful our governor and state Legislature will continue to step up to support election administration across the state. And we know that any barrier that would stop an eligible voter from casting their ballot is one barrier too many.”