(Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 18, 2025)
FIRST REPRINT A.B. 367
- *AB367_R1*
ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 367–COMMITTEE ON
LEGISLATIVE OPERATIONS AND ELECTIONS
(ON BEHALF OF THE JOINT INTERIM STANDING COMMITTEE
ON LEGISLATIVE OPERATIONS AND ELECTIONS)
MARCH 6, 2025
____________
Referred to Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections
SUMMARY—Makes various changes related to language access in
elections. (BDR 24-364)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to elections; setting forth certain language access
requirements relating to elections; requiring the Secretary
of State to employ a language access coordinator;
providing that a registered voter with a physical disability
may use a mobile device to access interpretive services;
and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Under existing law, each voting system used by a county or city is required to 1
provide voting materials in English and every language in which voting materials 2
are required to be prepared pursuant to federal law. (52 U.S.C. § 10503; NRS 3
293.2699) Section 5 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to ensure that voting 4
materials and other elections information are posted on the Internet website of the 5
Office of the Secretary of State in certain languages. Section 4 of this bill defines 6
the term “voting materials.” Section 11 of this bill applies that definition to the 7
provisions of existing law relating to elections. 8
Section 6 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to establish a toll-free 9
telephone number which may be used by any person to receive language 10
interpretation or assistance with translation relating to an election. 11
Section 9 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to employ a person to serve 12
as the language access coordinator for the Office of the Secretary of State, who is in 13
the classified service of the State. 14
Existing law provides that, with certain exceptions, any registered voter who by 15
reason of a physical disability or an inability to read or write English is unable to 16
mark a ballot or use any voting device without assistance is entitled to assistance 17
from a consenting person of his or her own choice. (NRS 293.296) Section 16 of 18
– 2 –
- *AB367_R1*
this bill provides that a registered voter with a physical disability may also use a 19
mobile device to access interpretive services to assist him or her in casting a vote in 20
an election. Such interpretive services include, without limitation, interpretive 21
services using American Sign Language. 22
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 293 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1
thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 10, inclusive, of this 2
act. 3
Sec. 2. (Deleted by amendment.) 4
Sec. 3. (Deleted by amendment.) 5
Sec. 4. “Voting materials” means the following written 6
materials: 7
1. Applications to preregister or register to vote; 8
2. Ballots and the instructions for the use of such ballots, 9
including, without limitation, mail ballots, sample ballots and 10
provisional ballots; 11
3. Voting instructions; 12
4. Information and instructions relating to the location of 13
polling places, including, without limitation, vote centers, 14
permanent polling places for early voting and temporary branch 15
polling places and the hours during which such polling places will 16
be open; 17
5. Any notices required to be provided for an election 18
pursuant to title 24 of NRS; 19
6. Ballot questions; 20
7. Any forms prepared for an election to assist voters; and 21
8. Any other voting materials required to be translated 22
pursuant to the regulations adopted by the Secretary of State 23
pursuant to section 5 of this act. 24
Sec. 5. The Secretary of State shall ensure that voting 25
materials and other elections information that is posted on the 26
Internet website of the Office of the Secretary of State are 27
available on the website in any language in which voting materials 28
are required to be prepared pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 10503 and 29
American Sign Language. If there are less than seven languages 30
in which voting materials are required to be prepared pursuant to 31
52 U.S.C. § 10503, the Secretary of State shall ensure that voting 32
materials and other elections information are posted pursuant to 33
this subsection in at least the seven most commonly spoken 34
languages in the State and American Sign Language. If any such 35
language does not have a standard writing system, the information 36
required to be posted must be set forth in an audio recording in 37
– 3 –
- *AB367_R1*
the language. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the 1
Secretary of State shall use a translator who is certified in the 2
specific language to translate the information required pursuant 3
to this subsection. If such a certified translator is not available to 4
translate the information as required by this subsection, the 5
Secretary of State shall make a continuous effort to find such a 6
certified translator or coordinate with the respective minority 7
group for assistance with the translation. 8
Sec. 6. 1. The Secretary of State shall: 9
(a) Establish a toll-free telephone number which may be used 10
by any person in this State to receive language interpretation or 11
assistance with translation relating to an election, including, 12
without limitation, voter registration or other voter assistance; and 13
(b) Post the toll-free telephone number established pursuant to 14
paragraph (a) on the Internet website of the Office of the 15
Secretary of State. 16
2. The Secretary of State shall ensure that the toll-free 17
telephone number established pursuant to subsection 1 provides 18
language interpretation or assistance with translation relating to 19
an election in the 200 most commonly spoken languages in the 20
State and American Sign Language. 21
Sec. 7. (Deleted by amendment.) 22
Sec. 8. (Deleted by amendment.) 23
Sec. 9. 1. The Secretary of State shall employ a person to 24
serve as the language access coordinator for the Office of the 25
Secretary of State. 26
2. A language access coordinator employed pursuant to 27
subsection 1 is in the classified service of the State. 28
Sec. 10. In addition to any other requirement relating to 29
language access, the Secretary of State shall ensure that all 30
elections-related communications and information are made 31
available to voters in English and Spanish. 32
Sec. 11. NRS 293.010 is hereby amended to read as follows: 33
293.010 As used in this title, unless the context otherwise 34
requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 293.016 to 293.121, 35
inclusive, and section 4 of this act have the meanings ascribed to 36
them in those sections. 37
Sec. 12. (Deleted by amendment.) 38
Sec. 13. (Deleted by amendment.) 39
Sec. 14. (Deleted by amendment.) 40
Sec. 15. (Deleted by amendment.) 41
Sec. 16. NRS 293.296 is hereby amended to read as follows: 42
293.296 1. Any registered voter who by reason of a physical 43
disability or an inability to read or write English is unable to mark a 44
ballot or use any voting device without assistance is entitled to 45
– 4 –
- *AB367_R1*
assistance from a consenting person of his or her own choice, 1
except: 2
(a) The voter’s employer or an agent of the voter’s employer; or 3
(b) An officer or agent of the voter’s labor organization. 4
2. A person providing assistance pursuant to this section to a 5
voter in casting a vote shall not disclose any information with 6
respect to the casting of that ballot. 7
3. A registered voter with a physical disability may use a 8
mobile device to access interpretive services to assist him or her in 9
casting a vote in an election. Such interpretive services include, 10
without limitation, interpretive services using American Sign 11
Language. 12
4. The right to assistance in casting a ballot may not be denied 13
or impaired when the need for assistance is apparent or is known to 14
the election board or any member thereof or when the registered 15
voter requests such assistance in any manner. 16
[4.] 5. In addition to complying with the requirements of this 17
section, the county clerk and election board officer shall, upon the 18
request of a registered voter with a physical disability, make 19
reasonable accommodations to allow the voter to vote at a polling 20
place at which he or she is entitled to vote. 21
Sec. 17. (Deleted by amendment.) 22
Sec. 18. NRS 293.4687 is hereby amended to read as follows: 23
293.4687 1. The Secretary of State shall maintain a website 24
on the Internet for public information maintained, collected or 25
compiled by the Secretary of State that relates to elections, which 26
must include, without limitation: 27
(a) The Voters’ Bill of Rights required to be posted on the 28
Secretary of State’s Internet website pursuant to the provisions of 29
NRS 293.2549; 30
(b) The abstract of votes required to be posted on a website 31
pursuant to the provisions of NRS 293.388; 32
(c) A current list of the registered voters in this State that also 33
indicates the petition district in which each registered voter resides; 34
(d) A map or maps indicating the boundaries of each petition 35
district; [and] 36
(e) All reports submitted to the Secretary of State pursuant to the 37
provisions of chapter 294A of NRS [.] ; and 38
(f) The toll-free telephone number established by the Secretary 39
of State pursuant to section 6 of this act. 40
2. The information required to be maintained, collected and 41
compiled by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection 1 must 42
be made available in all languages in which information and 43
voting materials are required to be provided pursuant to section 5 44
of this act. 45
– 5 –
- *AB367_R1*
3. The abstract of votes required to be maintained on the 1
website pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1 must be 2
maintained in such a format as to permit the searching of the 3
abstract of votes for specific information. 4
[3.] 4. If the information required to be maintained by the 5
Secretary of State pursuant to subsection 1 may be obtained by the 6
public from a website on the Internet maintained by a county clerk 7
or city clerk, the Secretary of State may provide a hyperlink to that 8
website to comply with the provisions of subsection 1 with regard to 9
that information. 10
Sec. 19. (Deleted by amendment.) 11
Sec. 20. (Deleted by amendment.) 12
Sec. 21. (Deleted by amendment.) 13
Sec. 22. (Deleted by amendment.) 14
Sec. 23. (Deleted by amendment.) 15
Sec. 24. (Deleted by amendment.) 16
Sec. 25. (Deleted by amendment.) 17
Sec. 26. (Deleted by amendment.) 18
Sec. 27. (Deleted by amendment.) 19
Sec. 28. (Deleted by amendment.) 20
Sec. 29. (Deleted by amendment.) 21
Sec. 30. (Deleted by amendment.) 22
Sec. 31. (Deleted by amendment.) 23
Sec. 32. (Deleted by amendment.) 24
Sec. 33. (Deleted by amendment.) 25
Sec. 34. (Deleted by amendment.) 26
Sec. 35. (Deleted by amendment.) 27
Sec. 36. (Deleted by amendment.) 28
Sec. 37. (Deleted by amendment.) 29
Sec. 38. (Deleted by amendment.) 30
Sec. 39. (Deleted by amendment.) 31
Sec. 40. (Deleted by amendment.) 32
Sec. 41. (Deleted by amendment.) 33
Sec. 42. (Deleted by amendment.) 34
Sec. 43. (Deleted by amendment.) 35
Sec. 44. 1. This section and sections 41, 42 and 43 of this act 36
become effective upon passage and approval. 37
2. Sections 1 to 40, inclusive, of this act become effective: 38
(a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 39
regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative 40
tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 41
(b) On January 1, 2026, for all other purposes. 42
H