Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar is trying to push a bill (AB534) that would block everyday citizens from helping clean up the state’s outdated and inaccurate voter rolls.
At the heart of the issue is Aguilar’s push to legally define “personal knowledge” in such a narrow way that challenges based on government data, social media, or even witness statements would be prohibited.
That means:
- If someone files a permanent change-of-address with the Post Office, that’s not enough.
- If a trained volunteer talks to a current resident who says the voter moved, that’s not enough.
- If someone moves out of state and re-registers elsewhere, even that might be rejected as “hearsay.”
Meanwhile, those same data sources are perfectly fine for government use – but not for citizens.
Why it matters:
- Outdated registrations make it easier for someone else to vote using a ballot that wasn’t meant for them.
- Challenges today don’t cancel a registration; they simply start a verification process where voters are notified and can easily confirm their info.
- Blocking citizen input with a strict “personal knowledge” rule doesn’t protect voting rights – it protects bad data.
Nevada’s mail-in ballot system will only work if the voter lists are accurate. But thanks to this proposed law, the tools citizens need to help fix the problem would be taken away.
Lawmakers should strip the “personal knowledge” provision from AB534. It’s outdated, unnecessary, and actively harms election integrity efforts.
I just released a full, detailed, 21-page report on this problem and how Secretary Aguilar’s provision would make it even worse.
Let’s fix the real problem – not block the people who are trying to help solve it. Contact your legislator and urge them to remove this provision from the bill.
If you’re not sure who’s representing you in Carson City, click this link and then enter your address in the “search” box.