County sets Saturday goal for counting ‘majority’ of remaining ballots, says Trump should hush

Clark County officials Thursday condemned accusations made by former President Donald Trump who claimed, without evidence, that Nevada’s election process was “corrupt.” County officials added that the majority of the 50,000 outstanding mail-in ballots left in Clark County will likely be counted by Saturday.

During a press conference on the status of outstanding mail ballots, county officials assured the public that Clark County’s election system was accurate and transparent, despite Trump’s claim that the county’s drawn out ballot counting process “gives time to cheat.”

“Unfortunate comments like the one that came out today by former President Trump get certain people very fired up and they’re convinced that we’re doing things that are inappropriate or against the law and that’s just not the case,” Joe Gloria, the top election official for Clark County, told reporters.

“Obviously, he’s misinformed two years later about the law and our election process,” he said.

In a statement issued by Clark County, election officials said Trump’s assertion that the county should count votes faster reflected an ignorance of Nevada voting procedures and timelines.

“Nevada state law requires us to accept and process all mail ballots received before 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, if they are postmarked on or before Election Day,” the statement said adding that state law requires every signature on every mail ballot envelope must be checked, “and if one does not match what is in our records, we are required by law to give that voter until 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, to cure their signature.”

“In addition,” the county statement continued, “there are provisional ballots to process, and we will not be able to complete that task until we receive reports from the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday, Nov. 16. This process ensures that individuals do not vote twice in Nevada.”

Election officials said a little over 50,000 mail-in ballots still needed to be counted in Clark County, Nevada’s largest and bluest county. The U.S. Postal Service also delivered another 626 mail-in ballots on Thursday, adding to the 25,700 ballots already mailed to the election department this week. 

Taken together, all those uncounted ballots represent a substantial number that could play a large role in determining the outcome of many races up and down the ticket in coming days.

How many of those ballots would be processed by Thursday night is still uncertain, Gloria said earlier in the day.

“My staff has been working diligently. We’ve been here from early in the morning to late at night. We’ve been fully staffed and we are working as hard as we possibly can, in order to get the ballots counted,” he added.

With all eyes on Nevada, Gloria said his office would continue to post updates when available, but emphasized that his top concern was the accuracy of the ballot count.

“We don’t want to move too fast. We want to make sure we’re being accurate when validating the signatures and the identity of the folks who voted,” Gloria said. “We are moving at a good pace for the amount of equipment and staff that we have on board.”

“We are only in the second year of what we do,” said Gloria of the county’s pace.

Beyond all the known ballots still being processed, election workers will have to contend with any additional mailed ballots, which can be legally counted as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 8 and received at the county by 5 p.m. Nov. 12.

Gloria said he would not speculate on how many more mail ballots might come in before the deadline.

Counties also must conduct signature cures, by which people whose signatures on ballot envelopes don’t match signatures on file with the county will be notified. In Clark County there are nearly 7,200 ballots that still need to be cured. Voters have until Nov. 14 to cure their ballot.

Voters with ballots that need curing can get assistance from the county hotline at 702- 455- 6552 until Sunday from 8am to 5pm. On Monday, voters can call the hotline from 7:30am to 5:00pm. ballots that have not been cured by then will not be counted.

An additional 5,555 provisional ballots have not been counted due to discrepancies, like voters whose names might not be on voter rolls or whose eligibility is otherwise in question. Those voters have a 5 p.m. deadline on Friday, Nov. 11 to provide the county with their required identification.