Lombardo Blasts Nevada Democrats for Delaying Election Results and Blocking Integrity Reforms 

Florida delivers election results on Election Night. Nevada? Days, or even weeks, later.  

That’s the blunt reality Governor Joe Lombardo highlighted in a pointed X post Wednesday, declaring the delay “unacceptable” and pinning the blame squarely on Democrats who have repeatedly blocked his efforts to require ballots be received and counted by Election Day.

“I’ve fought to have ballots be received and counted by Election Day so Nevadans can know the results on Election Night. Democrats have blocked it every step of the way,” Lombardo wrote. “If Florida can do it, Nevada can do it. It’s time for Election Day to be timely, expedient, and accurate.”

Florida can count millions of votes in real time and deliver results on Election Night. Meanwhile, in Nevada it takes days, often weeks.

That’s unacceptable.

I’ve fought to have ballots be received and counted by Election Day so Nevadans can know the results on Election Night.…

— Joe Lombardo (@JoeLombardoNV) August 19, 2026

The governor’s frustration is rooted in a fundamental transformation of Nevada’s election laws engineered by state Democrats during and after the pandemic. Under the guise of COVID-19, the Democratic-controlled Legislature, without a single Republican vote, enacted sweeping changes that prioritized access over security and transparency.

Assembly Bill 4 in the 2020 special session and its permanent successor, Assembly Bill 321 in 2021, locked in universal mail ballots sent automatically to every active registered voter. Unlimited ballot harvesting was legalized, allowing anyone to collect and return ballots for others. Same-day registration and voting expanded, no photo ID was required, and traditional precinct-based voting was abolished and replaced with voting centers and unmanned, unsecured drop boxes. Chain of custody was simply abolished, along with election integrity and voter confidence.  

Deadlines for receiving and curing mail ballots stretched past Election Day, ensuring results trickle in long after polls close. Compounding the delays, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in October 2024 that mail-in ballots with missing, smudged, or indecipherable postmarks can still be counted if received within three days after Election Day. The court rejected challenges from Republicans, the Trump campaign, and others, affirming that such ballots are deemed timely despite the absence of a postmark—further extending the window for tabulation and fueling the multi-day (or multi-week) counting process. 

These reforms turned Nevada into what election integrity advocates have long described as a “wild west” of voting—universal mail, no ID checks, and third-party ballot collection with minimal safeguards. 

The result? Slow counts that have repeatedly flipped close races to Democrats days after Election Night, eroding public confidence. 

Democrats in Carson City didn’t stop at state rules. Aligning with a key plank of the Democratic Socialists of America’s platform, they advanced measures to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, effectively seeking to eliminate the Electoral College and award Nevada’s electors based on the national popular vote rather than the will of Silver State voters. Senate Democrats passed AJR6 in 2023 to place the issue before voters, bypassing the traditional system that has long given smaller states like Nevada meaningful influence. Although they did not advance the measure in 2025, they are likely to revive it under a Democratic governor.

Governor Lombardo, elected in 2022 in part on a platform of restoring election integrity, has repeatedly tried to reverse course. His proposed reforms—ending unlimited ballot harvesting, requiring voter ID, terminating universal mail ballots, and ensuring ballots arrive and are counted by Election Day—have been systematically blocked by the Democratic legislative majority. 

In session after session, Republican-backed bills to tighten procedures died in committee or on party-line votes, leaving the pandemic-era framework intact. According to a study published last year, Nevada has weaker election safeguards than Rwanda.

Attorney General Aaron Ford has been among the most vocal opponents of basic safeguards. In a May 2023 press conference covered by this reporter, Ford publicly declared voter ID “unconstitutional,” stating, “This attorney general will not abide by an unconstitutional act like voter ID here in this state… I stand by Speaker Yeager and that entire Legislative Building in not giving that bill a hearing.”

One bright spot remains on the November 2026 ballot: Question 7, the voter identification constitutional amendment. Nevadans approved the measure by a landslide 73% in 2024. Because constitutional initiatives require passage in two consecutive even-year elections, it returns this November. 

This November, Nevadans have the chance to make Voter ID part of our Constitution. It is going to be done. 

Aaron Ford opposes Voter ID and continues to dismiss the overwhelming majority of Nevadans who support it.

I believe every voter should have confidence in our elections. pic.twitter.com/FZiIJmMbia

— Joe Lombardo (@JoeLombardoNV) August 6, 2026

Lombardo strongly supports the measure, which would require photo ID for in-person voting and verification via the last four digits of a driver’s license or Social Security number for mail ballots. With overwhelming public support the first time around, Question 7 is widely expected to pass again and finally bring basic identity verification to Nevada elections—over the objections of Democrats like Ford who have long insisted such measures are somehow unconstitutional.

Lombardo’s latest call for Election Night results underscores a simple truth: Nevadans deserve timely, transparent outcomes. The Democratic majority that remade the state’s election laws under emergency powers, backed by court rulings allowing unpostmarked ballots to be counted days later, continues to resist common-sense fixes. 

Whether voters force the issue through Question 7—and whether future legislatures finally listen to the governor’s push for accountability—will determine if Nevada can catch up to states (and third-world countries) that deliver results when the polls close.