Nevada governor signs bill to allow mail-in voting after Trump promises legal challenge

Nevada’s governor signed a bill ensuring that every registered voter in the state would receive a mail-in ballot ahead of November’s election despite threats of legal action from President Trump.

Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) said the bill would ensure “that we’d do all we can to allow Nevadans to safely cast a ballot in the upcoming November election.”

“This bill will help prevent Nevadans from experiencing the long lines at polling locations they faced during the Primary election, which will protect their safety, safeguard their right to make their voices heard, and help reduce the spread of COVID-19,” the governor tweeted.

“Nevada is widely recognized as being a leader in election administration, and this bill will enable election officials to continue to support the safest, most accessible election possible under these unprecedented circumstances,” Sisolak continued. “I am confident that Secretary of State Cegavske, in coordination with local clerks and registrars, will run a safe, fair and accessible election this November.”

This bill will help prevent Nevadans from experiencing the long lines at polling locations they faced during the Primary election, which will protect their safety, safeguard their right to make their voices heard, and help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) August 3, 2020

I am confident that Secretary of State Cegavske, in coordination with local clerks and registrars, will run a safe, fair and accessible election this November.

— Governor Sisolak (@GovSisolak) August 3, 2020

Sisolak’s signature on the bill comes after Trump threatened to sue over the measure, which the president argued would make it “impossible” for Republicans to win Nevada in November. Trump has frequently claimed without evidence that mail-in voting is rife with fraud and battled Democratic attempts to expand the process amid the coronavirus pandemic. Experts say the is no significant link between mail-in voting and fraud.

“In an illegal late night coup, Nevada’s clubhouse Governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state,” the president tweeted earlier Monday. “Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using Covid to steal the state. See you in Court!”

At a later press briefing, Trump again said he would sue the state.

“You’ll have somebody like the governor of Nevada come out with this massive plan, out of nowhere, to take millions of ballots and send them all over the place. You’ll never know who won that state. It’ll get messed up just like New York and just like Paterson, N.J., and just like many other places,” Trump said. 

Trump has for months suggested that the November election will be fraudulent or tainted due to the expanded availability of mail-in voting around the country. He has also suggested delaying the election, which he does not have the authority to do, in recent days, sparking criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Congress.