FAQ: After the Polls Close
You've exercised your right to vote—either in person, by submitting your mail ballot, or through Nevada's Effective Absentee System for Elections (EASE)—and the polls have closed on Election Day. So what happens next?
Updated for the 2026 General Election, this explainer, "After the Polls Close: Election Returns and Canvassing the Vote—An FAQ," outlines Nevada's procedures for handling ballots after the polls close, counting and tabulating votes, reporting election results, and canvassing the vote.
After the polls close, Nevada law requires poll workers, referred to as the "election board"—composed of citizens affiliated with different political parties—to secure voting machines, vote records, and other election materials, and account for ballots cast or mail ballots received at each polling location. At least two election board members then deliver election materials in sealed containers to a receiving center or the county's central counting location.
This FAQ also describes the technology used in Nevada's vote-counting process, including TotalVote, the Voter Registration Election Management Solution (VREMS), Poll Pads, and other ballot-processing systems. These technologies help election officials track ballots, prevent double voting, and support the tabulation of election results. Voters can track their information and voting history through the Nevada Secretary of State's voter registration services website.
The FAQ explains how votes cast by mail, during early voting, on Election Day, and through EASE are counted and combined. It also explains why election results may continue to change after Election Day as eligible mail ballots are received, signature issues are resolved, and final tabulations are completed.
Election results are reported by precinct and ballot type, subject to voter privacy protections, and publicly posted at counting facilities and online. The brief also outlines Nevada's final canvassing process, through which county boards of commissioners and the Nevada Supreme Court review and officially declare election results.
Read and download the full brief below.
This elections FAQ is part of a series originally produced by the Guinn Center in the fall of 2024 and updated for the current 2026 election cycle. The 2024 briefs were funded, in part, by the Democracy Defense Project.
Other briefs in this series: