Two weeks of early voting in Washoe County begins Saturday, Oct. 22, marking the final days before the Nov. 8 general election. This Is Reno put together this quick guide to help you cast your vote for this midterm election.
Registering to vote
Those who aren’t yet registered to vote can still register to cast a vote in this election. The extended registration period is online only and through the secretary of state’s office.
Register, update, cancel or confirm your registration information at: https://www.nvsos.gov/SOSVoterServices/start.aspx.
Same-day registration is also an option at early voting sites Oct. 26-Nov. 4 or at Election Day voting centers on Nov. 8. Voters may also update their registration on these dates. A valid Nevada ID or driver’s license and proof of residency in Washoe County is required for this option.
Voters who cast their vote using same-day registration will be given a provisional ballot to fill out. The ballot won’t be counted until election officials verify the individual is qualified to vote, has provided the necessary ID and proof of residency and the person hasn’t already voted.
Early voting
Registered voters can visit any of the county’s early voting locations to cast a ballot, either by dropping off their mail-in ballot or using one of the voting machines.
Election workers will request voters turn over their mailed ballot if they choose to vote by voting machine. Those who don’t have their mailed ballot will have to sign a form stating that they have not voted in the election and will not use their mailed ballot. Voting twice in the same election is a felony.
There are 19 early voting locations in Washoe County, along with one ballot drop box only at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Smoke Shop in Spanish Springs. A complete list of locations is here, or view them on a map here.
Election Day voting
Election Day voting is basically the same as early voting, except there are more and different voting center locations.
For long-time voters, one big change is that you no longer need to go to an assigned polling location based on your voting precinct. Registered voters can go to any of the voting locations within Washoe County to cast their ballot.
As with early voting, election workers will ask voters to turn over their mailed ballot if they choose to vote using one of the voting machines or sign an affidavit that they have not already voted.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. The Washoe County’s website on Election Day will also include wait times for any of the area vote centers to create a smoother voting process. That information will be available at www.washoecounty.gov/voters. 
Mail-in ballots
Some people may have already received their mail-in ballots, and others should be receiving them within the next week or so, unless they opted out of receiving one.
Mail ballots can be dropped off at any of the county’s vote centers, see above, during early voting or on Election Day, or mailed and postmarked no later than Election Day (and received by the registrar of voters by Nov. 12).
One part of the process that’s been misrepresented by local Republicans is how mail ballots are scanned at drop off locations.
When a person drops off their mail-in ballot at one of the vote centers or ballot drop boxes, election staff will scan it to get a tally of how many ballots were taken in on that day at that location.
No vote information will be scanned at that time to protect the voter’s privacy.
Scanning the ballots to tally the votes takes place at the registrar of voters office after signature verification and multiple rounds of count audits.
For mail-in ballots that are scanned in as received at voting centers, voters can track their own ballot to see when it was received and if it is being challenged (such as for an illegible or missing signature). Details on tracking ballot status are here.
Another important tip to remember: A mail-in ballot is not the same as a sample ballot. The sample ballot is information only and can be used as a sort of worksheet to mark off vote choices ahead of time. Voters can take their sample ballot to the voting machine to help speed up their voting process. Sample ballots cannot be used to cast a vote.
Another change to voting with mail-in ballots that was approved during the 2021 legislative session is that voters can complete their ballot and have someone else deliver it to a drop-box for them. 
Counting and tallying the votes
The registrar of voters office begins processing mail-in ballots as soon as they’re received (see the process here), but no votes are counted or reported until after all polls close on Election Day.
After Election Day, reporting may begin, but until the canvass of the vote 10 days later, on Nov. 18 this year, the election results aren’t final.
One of the reasons the counting process can take up to 10 days is because ballots postmarked on Election Day have until Nov. 12 to arrive at the registrar of voters office.
Voters can also “cure” a challenged mail-in ballot up until Nov. 14. Ballots may be challenged if the signature doesn’t match what’s on record or if the voter forgets to sign their ballot. Read more about curing a ballot here.
Candidate and ballot information
There are three questions on the ballot this election. The first covers equal rights issues, the second changes laws regarding the state’s minimum wage and the third would change how votes are cast in Nevada elections. The secretary of state’s office has the language of each question along with background information and arguments for and against passage of each. Read more about the questions here.
A list of offices up for election is on the county’s website here, and candidate profiles are here.
Voters can confirm their registration and look up the races they’re eligible to vote in here.
