Joe Lombardo vetoed bills in May and June 2025 that would have kept ballot drop boxes available on the weekend between early voting and Election Day, when most buildings that house them are closed, in a state where 45 percent of voters cast their ballots by mail in 2024. In 2023 and again in 2025 he vetoed bills that would have limited challenges to Nevada voters' registrations.
Lombardo also vetoed a 2025 bill that would have let Nevadans use tribal ID cards as proof of identity when registering in person during early voting, and a 2023 bill that would have required Clark County to offer ballots in Chinese.
Joe Lombardo's Vetoes of Nevada Voting-Access Bills
- Lombardo Twice Vetoed More Ballot Drop Boxes for the Weekend Before Election Day in 2025. On May 22, 2025, Joe Lombardo vetoed AB306, which would have expanded mail ballot drop boxes in the days after early voting ends and before Election Day, and on June 12, 2025, he vetoed AB499, which brought the drop-box expansion back as part of a compromise bill. That weekend remains what the Nevada Independent calls "historically a weekend dead zone when most buildings that house drop boxes are closed." The bill's sponsor, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, said it was meant to give "working families, seniors, and those with disabilities" secure ways to return their ballots.
- Lombardo Vetoed Limits on Challenges to Nevada Voters' Registrations in 2023 and 2025. On June 1, 2023, Joe Lombardo vetoed SB404, which would have barred challenges to the registration of a voter who votes by mail and let officials start counting early votes when early voting opens. On June 12, 2025, he vetoed AB534, the secretary of state's election bill, which would have required a challenge to a voter's eligibility to rest on firsthand knowledge rather than third-party sources and created a grant program for local election offices. Nevada voters, including those who vote by mail, can still have their registrations challenged by other people relying on third-party sources rather than anything they know firsthand.
- Lombardo Vetoed Letting Nevadans Register With a Tribal ID During Early Voting in June 2025. On June 11, 2025, Joe Lombardo vetoed SB422, which would have let a tribal ID card or an ID issued by another state serve as proof of identity for people registering to vote in person during early voting and required DMV offices in Clark and Washoe counties to keep longer hours around elections. Nevadans who register in person during early voting still cannot rely on a tribal ID card or an out-of-state ID to prove who they are, and the DMV offices where many Nevadans register have no required extra hours before an election.
- Lombardo Vetoed Chinese-Language Ballots for Clark County in June 2023. On June 16, 2023, Joe Lombardo vetoed AB246, which would have required a Nevada county to provide ballots in a non-English language wherever at least 5,000 qualified voters of a language-minority group have limited English, a threshold lower than federal law sets. Under that threshold Clark County would have had to provide ballots in Chinese; Chinese-speaking voters there have no such guarantee.
What Joe Lombardo's Election Vetoes Mean for Nevada Voters
- Nevada mail voters who wait until the final weekend find most drop boxes closed. Of the 1,487,887 Nevadans who voted in the 2024 general election, 45 percent voted by mail; with the vetoes, a mail voter who wants to drop off a ballot on the last weekend before Election Day, after early voting ends, finds most buildings that house drop boxes closed, the Nevada Independent reported.
Frequently Asked Questions About Joe Lombardo on Voting rights
What is Joe Lombardo's record on voting rights under Trump?
Joe Lombardo vetoed two 2025 bills that would have added ballot drop boxes for the weekend before Election Day, and he vetoed limits on challenges to voters' registrations in 2023 and 2025. He also vetoed a 2025 bill accepting tribal IDs for registration during early voting and a 2023 bill requiring Chinese-language ballots in Clark County.
Did Joe Lombardo veto more ballot drop boxes in Nevada?
Yes. Joe Lombardo vetoed AB306 in May 2025 after it passed the state Senate 12-8 and the Assembly 28-14, with one Assembly Republican voting for it, and then vetoed AB499, which brought the same drop-box expansion back in June 2025.
Did Joe Lombardo veto a bill letting tribal members use tribal IDs to register to vote?
Yes. Joe Lombardo vetoed SB422 in June 2025. Besides accepting tribal ID cards from Nevadans registering in person during early voting, the bill would have set a deadline of 18 days before an election for adding voters to the rolls through automatic voter registration. Democrats passed it over Republican opposition in both chambers.
Last updated: 2026-10-26