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FACT BRIEF

Do all ballots have to be counted by hand in Nevada?

By Esther Tsvayg
View this fact brief on The Nevada Independent
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NO

No county in Nevada currently uses hand counting as the sole or primary method to tabulate all votes.

During the primaries in Nevada, Esmeralda County, Nevada’s least populated county, waited until after a hand count of a smaller batch of 317 ballots to certify the results, while Lander County performed a hand count of fewer than 1,500 ballots cast across six races.

In most states, hand counts are only used after an election to ensure machine tallies are accurate. These hand counts were done in addition to normal mechanical tabulation processes in response to conspiracy-fueled doubts raised by voters about election integrity.

Commissioners in Nye County voted to run a hand count of its votes in the midterms, but vote tabulator machines will remain the primary recording mechanism.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Nevada Independent How should Nevada hand count ballots? Nye County, state election officials disagree
AP News Nevada high court rejects plea to stop county’s hand-count
Nevada Independent State adopts regulation for hand counting ballots, but it won’t affect Nye County – The Nevada Independent
AP News Nevada officials begin unprecedented hand count of ballots
AP News Last Nevada county approves primary results after hand count
AP News Hand vote count on hold after Nevada high court says illegal
Democracy Docket Amid Legal Battles, Nevada and Arizona Counties Turn To Hand Counting
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The Nevada Independent
The Nevada Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news and opinion website founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon Ralston. The site and its supporting channels are focused on ethical, unbiased and transparent journalism. In general, we aim to gather and disseminate important public information and increase civic engagement. We are supported by corporate donations, memberships, event ticket sales and sponsorships and foundation grants. We disclose all our members and donors. Donors have no influence over our content, ever. The Nevada Independent is the dba for Nevada News Bureau, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2010 by Elizabeth Thompson, who now serves as one of The Nevada Independent's managing directors and its Editor.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.