At the Reno Cares Campus, Washoe County officials require residents to present a photo ID card to retrieve mail-in ballots. The policy comes amid broader discussions on voter ID requirements across Nevada.
The Cares Campus, a facility providing services to unhoused residents, houses ballots in a locked mailroom in its Resource Center. Once sorted alphabetically into designated mailboxes, individuals who present a “clarity card”, a photo ID that allows residents to access other campus services, can receive a ballot.
The facility does not send ballots by mail; instead, residents must deposit them in person at a vote center, mailbox, or post office.
The new protocol has sparked questions on Nevada’s approach to voter ID requirements, an issue Governor Joe Lombardo highlighted in his recent State of the State address. The governor pledged to implement statewide voter ID legislation or pursue the measure on the ballot, emphasizing the importance of election integrity.
In response, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager stated that such legislation would be “dead on arrival” in the Democratic-controlled legislature. Attorney General Aaron Ford has also voiced opposition, calling voter ID measures unconstitutional.
The Cares Campus also allows individuals without a permanent address to use either the campus address or a nearby location, such as a street corner, for voter registration purposes. Washoe County spokesperson Bethany Drysdale explained that unhoused residents can still register and vote despite lacking a fixed address. Her statement has stirred concern over ballots mailed to non-specific locations.
State law mandates that voters register at their residence, yet Drysdale defended the practice.
“Just because a person does not have a fixed address, doesn’t mean they are not eligible to vote.”
Meanwhile, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) continues to challenge the accuracy of Nevada’s voter rolls, citing numerous cases of non-residential addresses, including casinos and vacant lots. In a lawsuit filed last year, PILF urged Washoe and Clark counties to remove such addresses from the voter lists. While Clark County complied, Washoe County has yet to act due to turnover in the registrar’s office.
The Elias Law Group, led by attorney Marc Elias, representing Washoe County in the lawsuit, argued that granting PILF’s demands would open the door to “unsourced, unverified, and unsworn” challenges that could strain election resources. The law group claims such changes could disrupt the registration process, leading to unwarranted investigations into alleged irregularities.
As Nevada’s voter ID debate heats up, the Cares Campus policy marks a step toward tightening ballot access, even as state leaders remain divided over the broader question of voter ID laws.
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