Washoe County commissioners certify June primary after ROV report; 4–1 vote

The Washoe County Board of Commissioners voted 4–1 on June 18 to approve the canvass of returns for the June 9, 2026 primary election after a formal presentation from the Registrar of Voters and public comment.

Registrar Andrew McDonald told the board the office sent approximately 323,000 mail ballots for the primary and reported overall turnout of roughly 30.8 percent. He said 15,000 mail ballots were returned to the office as undeliverable — a 4.6 percent return rate — and that the county followed the statutory process for list maintenance and post-election review.

"Undeliverable ballots are nonvoted ballots returned to us by the USPS; national averages run between 3 and 5 percent," McDonald said in the presentation, adding that 1,100 of the undeliverable voters later updated their addresses and voted in this election.

McDonald reviewed operational steps taken this cycle: implementation of the county's first ADA curbside voting pilot, automatic signature verification for mail ballots (the office used a conservative confidence threshold), pre- and post-election testing of equipment, and a post-election tabulation audit. He also enumerated discrete processing discrepancies the office found and corrected, including 17 early-voting check-ins done while poll pads were in training mode, a poll-pad synchronization issue that affected crediting for 63 voters, a handful of misprinted ballots that led to two extra ballots during early voting, and four additional ballots confirmed on election day at several locations. McDonald said an audit on June 17 added 15 valid mail ballots to the reported totals with Secretary of State approval.

District Attorney Michael Large told the board the canvass is required under state law (NRS 293.387) and that the board's duty is to meet and note any clerical errors and account for corrections. "The board shall meet and canvas the returns," he said, adding the statute requires the board to complete the canvass on or before the 10th day following the election.

Commissioners and the registrar repeatedly acknowledged public questions about the late-reporting patterns and the undeliverable-ballot number; the registrar explained procedures for cures and post-election audits and said the office will publish cure logs and other supplemental materials for 60 days.

After public comment that included calls for hand counts and additional scrutiny, Commissioner Hill made the motion to approve the Declaration of the Canvas of the Vote; Vice Chair Garcia seconded. The motion carried 4–1. The transcript does not record which commissioner cast the lone dissenting vote.

The district attorney and county staff noted that candidates may demand a recount under state law (NRS 293.403) within three working days after the canvas is declared. The board and ROV said they will post the full presentation and the supplemental materials online and continue to accept written questions for the stated public period.

The board adjourned after administrative closing remarks.