With the passage of Assembly Bill 321 during the 2021 Legislative Session, Nevada lawmakers have now made it a requirement that all elections in the Silver State utilize mail ballots.
As a result, counties all around the state are jumping into preparations for the 2022 primaries and general election, including Nye County, where commissioners recently approved an agreement with Runbeck Election Services Inc. to provide services to facilitate the mail ballot process over the coming year. To include ballot printing, stuffing and mailing, the agreement comes with an estimated expense of $50,000.
Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino explained that the printing of mail ballots is nothing new, as mail-in ballots have always been a part of the election process. In the past, the staff at the clerk’s office was able to handle much of the absentee ballots themselves but with each and every active voter in the county set to receive a mail ballot for both the primary and general elections, the scale of that activity is now simply too large for the task to be done in-office. As a result, she brought a ballot services contract before the Nye County Commission for its approval during the board’s Tuesday, Oct. 19 meeting.
“What this contract does is basically lock in this price, and that is all,” Merlino told commissioners than afternoon.
As detailed by the contract, ballot printing will come with a cost of between $0.24 and $0.26 per ballot card, depending on the size used. Art and production setup come with a $1,500 price tag, as does database setup.
For the outgoing process, insertion of up to three pieces will run the county $0.24 per packet while each sheet over three pieces will come with an additional cost of $0.05.
This portion of the contract also details a $1,500 cost for election setup. Outgoing envelopes are $0.12 each while the reply envelopes will cost $0.10. The voter instruction insert is $.10 each and additional inserts are $0.08 each. All ground shipping, mailing services, USPS mailing coordination and postage are included, though Nye County will be responsible for all applicable taxes.
“Everything they provide is what we have to have, regardless of whether it is this vendor or another,” Merlino stated, noting that in the past she has utilized two other vendors, but she felt Runbeck would be the most appropriate option for the county this time around.
“This one, after research and looking at their prices, I believe is the best for us. They come out of Arizona for one thing so when they do mail our ballots, they drop right into Clark County, which is where our mail goes through for sorting anywhere, so I believe it will be quicker. So basically that is all it is, is to lock in the prices for ballot stock, for printing services, for the stuffing of the ballots and mailing them out,” Merlino said.
Nye County Commissioner Leo Blundo then asked if the county would be in a position to receive funding assistance to pay for the mail ballots, as had been the case in 2020 with the first all-mail-in election.
Merlino said the state was looking at various methods for helping counties fund the mail ballot mandate but she did not know if the state would ultimately be paying for anything.
“The $50,000 is just an estimate,” Merlino emphasized, adding that the price could go either up or down depending on what happens between now and the elections. If more people register to vote in Nye County in the 2022 election, more ballots may be needed and the price would therefore be higher. If thousands of voters decide to opt out of mail ballots, the price could then drop. “This is to lock in the prices you see on the contract, per ballot. That’s what is being locked in,” she reiterated.
Commissioner Donna Cox interjected that she was concerned with Nye County’s ballots being printed and distributed by an outside entity and asked why the clerk’s office would not be handling the matter in-house, remarking that she would feel much better if Merlino and her staff were undertaking the process.
However, Merlino said this just wasn’t an option, replying, “There is no way that my staff could possibly stuff and prepare and mail out 30,000 (ballots). It’s just too much.”
Cox queried as to whether the clerk’s office could hire some temporary employees to facilitate the mail ballot process but this was also something Merlino did not feel would work to the county’s advantage. Preparing the ballots for mailing is a very persnickety process that must be done correctly and it’s not one that can be entrusted to just anyone.
“They have to be folded specifically, you have to put an information sheet on the outside, then you have to stuff them in one envelope, then another envelope, plus you have to put the right label on and get the right precinct,” Merlino explained. “It would be very difficult to do that in office… This is a specific, difficult task in folding the ballots the proper way so that they read properly in the machines.”
Merlino then assured that there were many checks and balances in place to ensure the security of the ballots, adding that all voters who are sent a ballot can sign up at www.Nevada.BallotTrax.net to see exactly where their ballot is once it’s been mailed.
Blundo made the motion to approve with a second from commissioner Bruce Jabbour. The motion passed with all in favor.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com