Nevada Investigates Why 34 Primary Mail Ballots Were Not Counted
Nevada officials are investigating why 34 mail ballots from the June primary were marked undeliverable and delivered after the counting deadline. Federal officials have requested USPS responses by August 1 and August 17, 2026.
Nevada officials are investigating why 34 mail ballots from the June primary were marked undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service and delivered weeks later to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office instead of the county election offices that were supposed to receive them.
The ballots included 32 from Lyon County and two from Douglas County. The Lyon County ballots arrived at the Secretary of State’s Office on July 6, 2026, from the USPS Mail Recovery Center. The two Douglas County ballots arrived on July 15, 2026. U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen have requested federal answers, including a response from the USPS Inspector General by August 1 and a USPS briefing by August 17, 2026.
What officials found
The Lyon County Clerk-Treasurer’s Office conducted a certified count after receiving the ballots. Officials said 24 came from Dayton and eight from Fernley. The office also said the ballots would not have changed the outcome of any primary race.
Election officials and the senators’ July 16 letter reported that the ballots were correctly addressed to the appropriate county offices and postmarked in time. The envelopes were nevertheless marked undeliverable and sent to the Secretary of State’s Office after the election. Lyon County officials said they do not yet know why the envelopes were rejected by the postal system.
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said his office is investigating. USPS said it has been working with Nevada election officials and is taking steps intended to prevent a similar incident in the future.
What the senators requested from USPS
In a July 16 letter, Cortez Masto and Rosen asked Postmaster General David Steiner and USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull to investigate the delivery failure and explain what corrective steps will be taken.
The senators asked the USPS Inspector General to tell them by August 1 whether an independent investigation is appropriate. They also requested a briefing by August 17 on the investigation and proposed solutions to prevent similar errors in Nevada and elsewhere.
Those are requested response dates from the senators, not legally imposed deadlines or confirmed dates for completed USPS findings.
The investigation still must establish why the ballots were marked undeliverable, how they moved through the postal system and whether similar problems affected other ballots or counties. The documented incident currently involves Lyon and Douglas counties; it does not establish that ballots were lost statewide.
Why the ballots were not counted
Nevada law gives voters several ways to return a mail ballot. A ballot mailed to the county clerk must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by the clerk no later than 5 p.m. on the fourth day following the election.
If a ballot arrives by mail no later than 5 p.m. on the third day following the election and the postmark cannot be determined, state law presumes that it was postmarked on or before Election Day.
Ballots delivered by hand to the county clerk or placed in an official county ballot drop box must be returned before the time set for closing the polls. Nevada law requires a ballot drop box at every polling place, including polling places for early voting.
Because the 34 ballots were delivered to the Secretary of State’s Office weeks after the June primary, they were not available to the county election offices during the statutory counting period. The late delivery, rather than a finding that the voters failed to mail their ballots on time, is the issue under investigation.
What Nevada’s administrative rules require
Nevada administrative rules require a county clerk who receives a return envelope for another county to stamp the date and time of receipt and forward the envelope and ballot as soon as practicable to the correct county clerk. The ballot is treated as received by the correct county at the time and on the date stamped on the envelope.
The rules also address how election officials determine a ballot’s postmark, including the use of USPS postmark or barcode information when available. The investigation will need to clarify how those procedures relate to ballots routed to the Secretary of State’s Office rather than to a county clerk.
What voters should do before November
Nevada’s general election is scheduled for November 3, 2026. Voters who use mail ballots should return them as early as practical rather than waiting until Election Day. They should confirm the return address on the envelope, sign where required and keep any available mailing or delivery record.
When delivery is uncertain, voters should contact their county clerk or registrar of voters promptly to ask about ballot status and available return options. Voters can use an official county ballot drop box or hand-deliver a ballot to the county clerk before the polls close.
Voters should use only an official county drop box or election office, not an unofficial collection point. County election offices can provide current locations, hours and instructions for the November election.
What happens next
The immediate accountability milestones are the senators’ requested August 1 response from the USPS Inspector General and the requested August 17 USPS briefing. Nevada’s investigation remains open, and officials have not announced a cause or corrective action.
The central question is whether the postal system can explain how 34 ballots with reportedly correct addresses and timely postmarks were diverted after the primary, and whether changes are needed before Nevada’s November election.
Sources
- Cortez Masto and Rosen investigation request
- The Nevada Independent report
- Washington Post/AP report
- Nevada Revised Statutes, NRS 293.269921
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