Amy Burgans, Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer
DOUGLAS COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE PREPARING FOR UPCOMING PRIMARIES
The Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer, Amy Burgans, joined the Minden Rotary Club this week to talk about the accomplishments of the clerk side of her position, answer questions, and showcase the new voting equipment which will be used in the county in the upcoming election.
Burgans joined the Army right after high school and then worked in the police department at the Lake before coming to the Valley for her current position in December of 2020. She is running unopposed on the ballot this year. Recent accomplishments include:
- She is the first clerk in Nevada to receive the CERA (Certified Elections/Registration Administrator) and other members of her department are also working on their certifications. This certification is the highest professional achievement for election officials in the country.
- She is one of two representatives from Nevada to serve on the National Committee for Elections (each state selects one Republican and one Democrat for this committee.
- She serves as a leader in NACCEO and just received a substantial grant for the organization to promote truth in elections.
- She successfully “re-precincted” (renumbered) districts from the prior 1- or 2-digit numbering system to a 3-digit system where the 1st digit is your commissioner number, the second digit is your School Board district number and the third digit correlates to your fire protection district.
- Her department spearheaded a statewide mock election for the new system at the capital. Members from all but two Nevada counties joined to learn about the new top-down voter registration system and to identify problems that could happen and how to mitigate those problems.
Sample ballots have gone out in the mail -if you have not received one, you need to check with the Clerk-Treasurer’s office. Primary ballots will be in the mail on May 11 and voters should receive this within a week. If not, your voter registration may need to be checked.
Identification currently required to register to vote is a Nevada Driver's License, Tribal ID or a Military ID (which also requires proof of residency). Currently, no proof of citizenship is required. Burgans indicated that she did have one honest person come into her office to let her know that when he got his driver's license at the DMV, he told them he was not a citizen, and they still registered him to vote.
In Douglas County, 7223 voters are registered as Democrats, 21,171 as Republicans and 13,383 as non-partisan. The DMV auto-registers you as non-partisan which results in the Clerk’s office having to reach out to you to see if you would like to be registered differently.
For Nevada primaries, only Republican and Democratic registered voters receive ballots with major party candidates. If you are not registered for either of these parties, you can change your party for the primary. The deadline is May 25th if you want to receive a mail-in ballot. Burgans recommends bringing in the ballot rather than mailing it in to assure your vote is counted. Early voting is at the Douglas County Community Center and runs from May 23rd through June 5. Hours are 9-6 Monday through Friday and 10-5 Saturday (except Memorial Day). Election Day hours will be 7-7 and include five locations: DCCC, Washoe Tribal Center, Indian Hills GID, Kahle Community Center and TRE Community Center. Voters can use any of the voter centers. “We are throwing a party and we want people to come!”, stated Burgans.
The new voting equipment consists of 3 stations:
- an iPad to confirm voting once which produces a vote card
- A voting machine in which the voter makes the selections and prints the results. This printout is reviewed by the voter and if correct, the voter moves to the next station.
- A scanner - where the printed ballot will be fed and read. These ballots are saved in case a re-check is ever needed.
The county has purchased the new Liberty Vote and KnowInk system including 78 iPads, 180 voting machines and 8 scanners with state funding. 15 of 17 counties in Nevada are using this system.
A livestream will run from 5/26 - 6/18 if you want to watch the ballots being counted. Check it out on the Douglas County YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/douglascountynevada
