NV Democrats warn of ‘chaos’ and confusion over Trump-backed election reforms

State leaders say there is rising fear about election interference and suppression.

Nevada officials warned that a series of federal election proposals backed by Republican President Donald Trump could confuse voters, suppress turnout, and undermine the state’s control over its own elections ahead of the midterms. 

At an election security panel in Las Vegas, the state’s top election official and members of the US Congress sharply criticized the SAVE Act and a White House executive order to create a national voter eligibility list, calling the measures misleading, illegal, and harmful to voters.

“The SAVE Act is the chaos,” Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nevada) said. “That to me is corrosive to democracy—inciting chaos among people.”

Nevada Secretary of State Francisco “Cisco” Aguilar said his office is already seeing confusion among voters, particularly in urban areas, as concern about the proposals intensifies.  

Officials stressed the importance of education to reduce voter confusion, and they urged early voting and voting by mail to avoid potential chaos at polling sites. 

Officials also raised concerns about voter intimidation, especially among immigrants who gained citizenship and now have the right to vote. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) said listening sessions revealed fears among mixed-status families and voters who feel targeted based on “the color of their skin and the language that they speak.”

“That, unfortunately, is happening without regard to elections,” he said.

Despite White House officials stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would not deploy at polling sites, Nevada voters still fear it could happen, Assemblywoman Cinthia Zermeño Moore (District-11) said.

“The idea, or the possibility, of ICE extensions being at poll locations is a method to intimidate voters, especially the Latino vote,”  Zermeño Moore, whose district is predominantly Latino, said.

The concerns come as Latinos—Nevada’s largest immigrant voting bloc—play an increasingly critical role in elections. According to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, as of 2024, 1 in 5 voters in Nevada were Latino. And according to data from Univision, Hispanics make up 22% of the state’s electorate.

The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship and new identification requirements for voter registration, changes that Lee said could disproportionately affect women voters who’ve undergone a name change and low-income communities that cannot afford IDs like passports. 

“They will have to get an affidavit to be able to register to vote,” she said.

The SAVE Act also called for increased sharing of voter personal information with the Department of Homeland Security. It has passed the House and is pending in the Senate. 

Meanwhile, the executive order on elections would require states to rely on a federally controlled national voter list to distribute mail-in ballots—threatening to withhold federal funding from states that don’t comply. 

Aguilar said the order conflicts with the US Constitution, which gives states the primary authority over elections, prompting his decision to pursue legal action. He also called the measure an extension of “Donald Trump’s obsession” with the loss of his 2020 election.

“We know it’s federalism at its overall effort,” Aguilar said of the executive order. “In plain, simple language, the Constitution says that states are responsible for elections.

In response, officials outlined a three-part strategy: educate voters to reduce confusion, litigate federal actions they view as unconstitutional, and continue strengthening access to the ballot.

Nevada leaders pointed to existing policies— including automatic registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles, early voting, universal mail-in ballots, same-day voter registration, and expanded language access—as evidence that the state’s system is already robust.

“None of it works unless the people exercise their right,” Horsford said.