N.R.S. 293.485 - Qualification of voter: Citizenship, age and residence

AGO (1912) Residence for the purpose of registration and voting is not lost by reason of a temporary absence while attending to the duties of a public office.

AGO 199 (1918) A person who will not have been in the state 6 months at the time of a primary election, but who will have been in the state 6 months at the time of the general election, cannot vote at the primary election.

AGO 217 (1918) No transfer of registration from one county to another is allowed except upon cancellation of the original registration and re-registration in the other county, the provisions of a prior law relating to transfers after the close of registration having been repealed. Upon application for re-registration, the requirement of a residence period in the county must be met.

AGO 155 (1924) Registration statutes should be liberally construed.

AGO 237 (1926) An elector, once registered for any general, special or primary election, need not re-register in order to vote at any subsequent election unless his registration has been cancelled.

AGO 247 (1926) Residence within the boundaries of an Indian reservation constitutes residence in the State of Nevada for the purpose of qualifying Indians as electors, since United States citizenship is conferred by federal statute.

AGO 90 (1932) Residence within the boundaries of the federal ammunition base at Hawthorne does not disqualify a person from registering and voting.

AGO 119 (1933) The fact that a citizen is a pauper does not prevent him from establishing legal residence in Nevada.

AGO B-24 (1940) Under the law of residence of this state, a person, after having once established residence by being actually present in the place where residence is claimed for the period required by law, with the intention during all of that time to make that place his home or residence for at least an indefinite period of time, may go away to some other state and still claim residence in the state where such residence was formerly so established by claiming it to be his residence and by going back to that place to vote and not exercising the right of franchise or other rights incident to residence in the state or nation to which he moved for as long a period of time as he may desire.

AGO 281 (1946) Residence within the boundaries of the Hawthorne naval ammunition depot does not disqualify a civilian to register and vote, despite cession of limited jurisdiction to the United States.

AGO 257 (1961) A person, who as a minor in a sister state joined the military service, and who thereafter acquired property in Nevada and intends to make Nevada his domicile and to reside therein after completion of 20 years' military service, but who has not resided in Nevada for the time required to vote under NRS ch. 293, is not entitled to vote in Nevada.

AGO 48 (1971) Students and other citizens aged 18 through 20 are sui juris for all purposes related to voting and can establish legal residence for voting purposes separate and apart from their parents or guardians. Such persons may register and vote where they attend school if they are residents of the county and meet the statutory and constitutional requirements of age and residency as previously applied to individual voters 21 years of age and over under Nev. Art. 2, section 1, former NRS 10.020 (cf. NRS 10.155) and NRS 293.485 et seq.

AGO 55 (1971) County clerks and voter registrars are required, pursuant to NRS 293.485, to accept the registration of 17-year-olds who will have reached their 18th birthday on or before the next succeeding primary, general or other election at which they wish to vote if such persons meet other constitutional or statutory requirements to qualify electors.

AGO 78 (1972) Members of the Armed Forces who entered the service from outside Nevada may establish residency for voting purposes in Nevada on the same basis as other residents of the state and are entitled to register to vote if otherwise qualified under Nev. Art. 2, section 1, former NRS 10.020 (cf. NRS 10.155) and NRS 293.485 et seq.

AGO 85 (1972) Provisions of Nev. Art. 2, section 1, and NRS 293.485, which require a 6 month residence in the state to qualify as an elector, violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. 14th Amendment, and persons otherwise qualified are entitled to register to vote up to the time prescribed by NRS 293.560 for the close of registration.

AGO 94-18 (1994) A person who is 17 years of age may be a candidate for the office of trustee of a school district pursuant to NRS 386.240 if he will be a qualified elector as defined in Nev. Art. 2, section 1, and he meets the qualifications to register to vote set forth in NRS 293.485 before the date of the general election. (See also Nev. Art. 15, section 3.)

In 1973 the legislature amended this section to bring it into conformity with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330 (1972), by removing the requirement for six months' residency in the state. The legislature also submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to remove similar language from Nev. Art. 2, section 1, but the amendment was defeated at the polls in 1976.

Constitutional qualifications and right to vote, Const. Art. 2, section 1.

Registration as qualification, Const. Art. 2, section 6