How could Trump’s push to reform mail-in voting affect Nevada?

As President Donald Trump reignites his efforts to end universal mail voting and the use of electronic voting machines, Nevada officials say any changes would have to go through the state.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said he planned to “lead a movement to get rid of” mail-in ballots and “Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive and Seriously Controversial” voting machines. He said he would use an executive order in an attempt to implement changes for the 2026 midterm elections.

Trump’s renewed push came days after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Trump said Putin supported his claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump has falsely argued he lost the presidential election because of voter fraud, which he attributed in part to mail-in ballots.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar emphasized that mail voting is secure and popular across the state, including with rural voters in counties that went red for Trump in 2024 and in more urban areas where people work around-the-clock in the tourism industry.

“When you ask a voter to give up their mail ballots and to drive hours to cast a vote, you’re taking away their ability to earn a livelihood and to participate in a fundamental right they have as an American citizen,” Aguilar, a Democrat, said in a Wednesday interview.

He also pointed to cybersecurity systems for the voting machines and new ballot marking devices that provide voters with a printed ballot to review before submitting it for tabulation. Those are expected to be deployed in most counties for the 2026 election.

Executive order being drafted

It remains to be seen what Trump will do to push his goals, though he said his office is drafting an executive order on the subject.

It’s unclear what it would mandate. Changes to Nevada’s elections at that scale would require changes to state laws — something that state legislators have not done in recent sessions. Congress has the power to regulate federal elections.

“The only people that can tell us how to change our system are the Legislature and the governor,” Aguilar said, “and until they decide to make changes, we’re going to continue to operate as we have been, because that’s in the best interest of Nevadans.”

Clark County government officials similarly said changes must be made through state officials, including Aguilar’s office. A spokesperson for the county said they are “monitoring the conversation at the federal level.”

Mail ballots have been consistently used by around half of Nevada voters in each election since the state began mailing ballots to all voters in 2020. About 45 percent of the state’s voters in the 2024 general election voted by mail. Two years earlier, it was 51 percent.

Lombardo supports Trump’s efforts

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo said he agreed with Trump’s fight against mail-in ballots and pointed to previous attempts to roll back their use in the state.

“I would — of course — support President Trump’s efforts to end universal mail-in voting,” he said in a Wednesday statement. “In 2023, I presented legislation which would have eliminated universal mail-in ballots, while also requiring voter ID and ending unregulated ballot harvesting in Nevada. When Democrats refused to give the bill a hearing, I took this issue directly to Nevadans and qualified voter ID as a 2026 ballot measure. As evidenced time and time again, my commitment to election integrity remains unwavering.”

Election reform advocates say the effort to end universal mail ballot access targets a system with “the greatest potential for fraud,” according to David Gibbs, president of Repair the Vote PAC. The group is behind the ballot question to implement voter ID requirements.

Gibbs said he supported efforts to reverse the 2020 changes that provided all Nevada voters with a mail ballot option. Instead, he prefers absentee ballots that voters must request and return before Election Day.

“I was a pilot in the Air Force, and (when) we talked about safety, it was like, this is a step away from safe,” Gibbs said. “That’s kind of what I see these things as — a step away from the best.”

Aguilar said he suspected the federal government would have a significant uphill battle to force changes to Nevada’s statute.

“They can change the way we run operations, but I don’t think that’s going to occur,” he said.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.