Launch of new voter registration system delayed
However, the election officials wrote that the system has not been easy to develop, test and roll out the project.
Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar postponed the launch of the state’s new top-down voter registration and election management system Tuesday at the request of 15 county clerks and election officials.
The implementation of Nevada’s Voter Registration and Election Management System (VREMS) was originally scheduled for April 1, a couple of months before the June 11 primary election, but it will now launch in July, Aguilar announced Tuesday.
VREMS will move the state from its current “bottom-up” voter registration systems that require the state to put together separate files from each county into a statewide voter registration file and is expected to update the state’s voter registration data and elections administrations more quickly and efficiently.
“Elections are the foundation of our democracy, and when the administrators of those elections express concern we should all listen.” Aguilar said in a statement Tuesday.
“I know that this request from our state’s election administrators was not made lightly, and that it was made with the voters in mind. As a result, I will grant their request for a delay in implementation.”
Clerks and registrars from 15 counties — not including Clark County — sent a letter to Aguilar on Monday requesting the delay to July.
They wrote that they are excited for the implementation of the new system and are confident it will “enhance our ability to prepare for elections, reduce the burden on county resources to compile and report election data, and more efficiently manage voter registration and reconciliation.”
However, the election officials wrote that the system has not been easy to develop, test and roll out. They conducted a mock election exercise last week that re
vealed a number of issues that must be resolved before the new system goes live, the letter says.
While KNOWINK — the company developing the election system — is confident it can fix those issues before April, the clerks don’t have much time to conduct a review of those updates, they wrote in the letter.
“This request is not made lightly,” they wrote. “We need this system. More importantly, we need this system to be successful. We all are charged with ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and security of elections. We must be able to guarantee
that we have a final product that will best serve the needs of the voters in Nevada.”