The June 9 primary election will be conducted entirely by mail, Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske announced Tuesday, due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Douglas County election officials are working to prepare for the all-mail election, which will see an absentee ballot mailed to all active registered voters in Nevada.

“No action or steps, such as submitting an absentee ballot request application, will be required by individual voters in order to receive a ballot in the mail,” Cegavske said. “Voters will be able to mark their ballot at home and then return it by mail using a postage-prepaid envelope or by dropping it off in person at a designated county location.”

Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer Kathy Lewis said her office has been ramping up the mail-in ballot process over the past years.

“We have received more and more permanent mail ballot requests and are confident we can conduct a fair, transparent, accurate election,” she said. “We’ll be working with the Secretary of State’s Office over the coming weeks to ensure processes and controls are in place to protect the integrity of the election.”

Among the group activities that have been discouraged as a result of the outbreak is the training of poll workers, who tend to be among the groups at high risk for severe cases of the virus.

“Based on extensive conversations with Nevada’s 17 county election officials, we have jointly determined that the best option for the primary election is to conduct an all-mail election,” Cegavske said.

In order to accommodate same-day voter registration, as well as assist voters who have issues with the ballot that was mailed to them, at least one in-person polling location will be available in each county for the primary. These polling locations will be set up to ensure the safety of voters and poll workers alike.

Because in-person voting opportunities will be extremely limited for the primary election, Nevadans are encouraged to register to vote now and not rely on the same-day registration process. Voters are also encouraged to confirm their voter registration information is up-to-date, including mailing address and political party affiliation. Visit http://www.RegisterToVoteNV.gov to register to vote online or make updates to your existing voter record.

Absentee ballots must be dropped off in person by the close of polls on Election Day, or postmarked by Election Day. Ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received no later than seven days after the election will be counted.

Additionally, if a voter fails to sign the ballot return envelope or the voter’s signature does not match the one on file with the county election official, the voter will be contacted, and the voter will have up to the seventh day after the election to make the necessary correction. It is important to understand that these statutory deadlines will result in updating vote totals and election results for up to seven days after the election. Close races may remain undecided until all ballots are counted. All counties must certify the election results no later than 10 days after the election.