Nevada Adds Eligible Voters with Past Convictions to the Rolls After Campaign Legal Center Organizers Work to Reinstate Wrongly Denied Voters

More than 500 affected Nevada voters have been added to the rolls for November elections as a result of this effort

LAS VEGAS, NV – Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has come to an agreement with Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s office and the Clark County registrar after the county was denying voter registration applications due to an unlawful paperwork requirement, asking eligible voters to unearth decades-old discharge papers in order to register to vote. In a memo sent to Nevada counties by Deputy Secretary for Elections Wayne Thorley, the state clarified that eligible voters who complete the registration process by signing a declaration form affirming the restoration of their voting rights after a conviction are eligible to vote normally on Election Day. Clark County has added more than 500 Nevada citizens whose registrations were denied to the rolls. The Secretary of State’s memo recommended that all other counties also take this crucial step to ensure no eligible voter is wrongly denied the right to vote in 2018.

“Nevada voters should not be disenfranchised due to an unnecessary paperwork requirement,” said Blair Bowie, legal fellow at CLC. “We are pleased that the Nevada Secretary of State and Clark County registrar worked with us to resolve this issue amicably, so that the voters could be reinstated in time for the November elections. It is critical that Nevadans and voters around the country receive accurate information about their state’s voting rights restoration requirements.”

This comes after Nevada has agreed to do four things to clarify voter registration processes for people with past convictions.

CLC has further worked to simplify the rights restoration process for people with past convictions, releasing a fact sheet that answers common questions about Nevada law.