Nevadans Consider Popular Measure To Require Identity Verification For Mail-In Voting

Next Tuesday, Nevadans will vote on Question 7 for the second time, deciding whether to add voter identification requirements to the state constitution.

The question comes against a backdrop in which a legitimate ballot’s fate can depend on something as simple as handwriting. In a state where elections are sometimes decided by just a handful of votes, that matters.

In 2024, the Las Vegas Sun reported that nearly 14,000 voters had to verify their identity with election officials to cure the signature on their mail ballots, or their votes would not count. That is not a rounding error in Nevada. In 2022, Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, won by about 15,000 votes and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, by about 8,000.

The current system relies on signatures at every step. At the polls, Nevada verifies voters by signature and is among the 14 states that require no documentation. For mail ballots, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a bipartisan team compares the envelope signature to the voter’s last signature on record. If at least two election workers see a reasonable question about whether the signatures match, the clerk contacts the voter.

Flaws in the System

This process fails in both directions. What’s more, the consequences can extend well beyond paperwork. It relies on individual judgment, so a skilled forgery can pass while a legitimate voter’s changing signature gets flagged.

The results show the cost. In 2022, 5,979 ballots statewide that needed a signature cure were never counted. In the 2024 presidential primary, 4,832 mail ballots needed a cure, and only 2,220 were fixed and counted.

I have witnessed signature verification in Clark County firsthand, and it is onerous and difficult. A system that throws out thousands of ballots while still depending on handwriting comparison is neither secure nor fair.

Proposed Changes

Question 7 would add an objective identification check. In-person voters would show one of eight forms of government-issued photo ID, including driver’s licenses, passports, and tribal photo IDs. Mail voters would write down one identifying number: the last four digits of a Nevada driver’s license, the last four of a Social Security number if they have no license, or the number the county clerk assigned at registration. The measure also accounts for older voters. Voters 70 and over can use an expired ID, while everyone else’s ID can be up to four years past expiration. Voter ID is standard practice nationwide. As of 2025, 36 states require voters to present identification.

In 2024, Question 7 passed with 73.2 percent support. The initiative drew 179,000 signatures from all 17 counties.

As the Nevada Independent reports, “As a proposed amendment to the Nevada Constitution, it must be approved in two consecutive general elections, so it appears again this year for a second and final vote.” 

Two years later, support remains strong, with 67 percent in favor.

Democrat’s Proposal for Voter ID

Nevada lawmakers also considered a different approach to voter ID during the 2025 legislative session.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager introduced a voter ID bill, AB 499, in the session’s final days. According to The Nevada Independent, unlike Question 7, the bill would have let a mail ballot be verified solely by signature, even if its identifying number couldn’t be verified. It also would have expanded ballot drop boxes. Lombardo vetoed it. He wrote that the bill applied ID requirements unequally between in-person and mail voters and did not sufficiently guarantee ballot security.

He was right. In a state where more than 541,000 mail ballots had been accepted before polls even closed in 2024, voter ID that exempts mail voting protects very little. A statute can be amended in a future session. Question 7 would put a uniform standard in the constitution, where a future legislature cannot weaken it on its own.

In a state where close races leave little room for error, Nevadans want more than guesswork when it comes to verifying ballots. Strong support for Question 7 shows that many Nevadans see voter ID as a clearer way to ensure voters are properly identified and give them greater confidence when they cast their ballots.