Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Nevada

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates
Ballot access for presidential candidates
List of political parties in the United States
Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

In order to get on the ballot in Nevada, a candidate for state or federal office must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses, and the general election.

There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.

1. An individual can seek the nomination of a state-recognized political party.
2. An individual can run as an independent. Independent candidates often must petition in order to have their names printed on the general election ballot.
3. An individual can run as a write-in candidate.

This article outlines the steps that prospective candidates for state-level and congressional office must take in order to run for office in Nevada. For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, see "Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Nevada." Information about filing requirements for local-level offices is not available in this article (contact state election agencies for information about local candidate filing processes).

See state election laws

Year-specific filing information

2024

U.S. Senate

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Nevada in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nevada, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada	U.S. Senate	All candidates	N/A	$500.00	3/15/2024	Source

U.S. House

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Nevada in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nevada, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada	U.S. House	All candidates	N/A	$300.00	3/15/2024	Source

For filing information from previous years, click "[Show more]" below.

Show more

2022

U.S. Senate

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Nevada in the 2022 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nevada, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2022
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada	U.S. Senate	All candidates	N/A	$500.00	3/18/2022	Source

U.S. House

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Nevada in the 2022 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nevada, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2022
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada	U.S. House	All candidates	N/A	$300.00	3/18/2022	Source

Governor

The table below details filing requirements for gubernatorial candidates in Nevada in the 2022 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nevada, click here.

Filing requirements for gubernatorial candidates, 2022
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source	Notes
Nevada	Governor	Ballot-qualified party	N/A	$300.00	3/18/2022	Source
Nevada	Governor	Unaffiliated	N/A	$300.00	3/18/2022	Source

2020

U.S. House

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Nevada in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Nevada, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada	1st Congressional District	Major party	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	1st Congressional District	Unaffiliated	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	2nd Congressional District	Major party	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	2nd Congressional District	Unaffiliated	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	3rd Congressional District	Major party	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	3rd Congressional District	Unaffiliated	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	4th Congressional District	Major party	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source
Nevada	4th Congressional District	Unaffiliated	0	N/A	$300.00	Fixed number	3/13/2020	Source

State House

The table below details filing requirements for Nevada State Assembly candidates in the 2020 election cycle.

Filing requirements for state legislative candidates, 2020
Chamber name	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada State Assembly	All candidates	N/A	$100.00	3/13/2020	Source

State Senate

The table below details filing requirements for Nevada State Senate candidates in the 2020 election cycle.

Filing requirements for state legislative candidates, 2020
Chamber name	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Nevada State Senate	All candidates	N/A	$100.00	3/13/2020	Source

2018

See also: State and federal candidate filing deadlines for 2018 and Nevada elections, 2018

See below for 2018 candidate filing deadlines.

March 16, 2018

2016

See also: Nevada elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Nevada in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
January 4, 2016	Ballot access	Judicial candidate filing period opens
January 15, 2016	Ballot access	Judicial candidate filing period closes
March 7, 2016	Ballot access	Candidate filing period opens
March 18, 2016	Ballot access	Candidate filing period closes
March 28, 2016	Campaign finance	Candidate financial disclosure statement due
May 24, 2016	Campaign finance	Contributions and expenses report #1 due
June 10, 2016	Campaign finance	Contributions and expenses report #2 due
June 14, 2016	Election date	Primary election
October 18, 2016	Campaign finance	Contributions and expenses report #3 due
November 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Contributions and expenses report #4 due
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
January 15, 2017	Campaign finance	Annual contributions and expenses report due; Contributions and expenses report #5 due; annual financial disclosure statement due
Source: Nevada Secretary of State, "Important 2016 Candidate Dates," accessed July 17, 2015

2015

To view historical information for 2015, click [show] to expand the section.
See also: Nevada elections, 2015 There were no regularly scheduled state executive, state legislative, or congressional elections in Nevada in 2015.

2014

To view historical information for 2014, click [show] to expand the section.

See also: Nevada elections, 2014 Nevada held a primary election on June 10, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014. Voters elected candidates to serve in the following state and federal offices: Governor of Nevada Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Nevada Attorney General Nevada Secretary of State Nevada Treasurer Nevada Controller 4 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives 11 seats in the Nevada State Senate 42 seats in the Nevada State Assembly The candidate filing period began March 3, 2014 and ended March 14, 2014. Important ballot access, campaign finance reporting, and election dates are listed in the table below. These deadlines can be found in the table below, along with campaign finance reporting deadlines. Legend:      Ballot access     Campaign finance     Election date Dates and requirements for candidates in 2014 Deadline Event type Event description January 2, 2014 Ballot Access First day independent candidates may circulate petitions January 15, 2014 Campaign finance Annual Report due for candidates who received over $10,000 in contributions in 2013 January 23, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for qualifying major parties to submit their petitions to counties for verification February 3, 2014 Ballot Access First day members of a major party may file a Certificate of Candidacy to nominate a candidate February 6, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for independent candidates to submit their petitions to counties for verification February 28, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for qualifying major parties to file verified petitions with the Nevada Secretary of State March 3, 2014 Ballot Access Candidate filing period begins March 7, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for members of a major party to file a Certificate of Candidacy to nominate a candidate March 14, 2014 Ballot Access Candidate filing deadline March 24, 2014 Ballot Access Last day to challenge an independent candidate petition March 24, 2014 Campaign finance Deadline for candidates to file the Financial Disclosure Statement April 11, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for qualifying minor parties to submit their petitions to counties for verification May 16, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for qualifying minor parties to file verified petitions with the Nevada Secretary of State May 20, 2014 Campaign finance Contribution and Expenses Report 1 due June 6, 2014 Campaign finance Contribution and Expenses Report 2 due June 10, 2014 Election Date Primary election date August 8, 2014 Ballot Access Deadline for minor parties not nominating candidates to file a Notice of Continued Existence form October 14, 2014 Campaign finance Contribution and Expenses Report 3 due October 31, 2014 Campaign finance Contribution and Expenses Report 4 due November 4, 2014 Election Date General election January 15, 2015 Campaign finance Contribution and Expenses Report 5 due

Process to become a candidate

Declaration of candidacy form, 2013

See statutes: Title 24, Chapter 293 of the Nevada Revised Statutes

A candidate in Nevada may access the ballot in one of three ways: as a major party candidate, as a minor party candidate, or as an independent candidate. Write-in candidates are not permitted in this state. Voters can only cast a vote for candidates whose names appear on the ballot.

Major party candidates

A major party candidate must have been affiliated with his or her party by December 31 of the year preceding the election. If a candidate changes his or her affiliation after that date, he or she can no longer run as a major party candidate.

Major party candidates are nominated via primary election. There are two ways in which a major party candidate may be placed on the primary election ballot:

• by filing a declaration of candidacy and paying the filing fee during the candidate filing period, which begins on the first Monday in March and ends on the second Friday in March following that Monday; the declaration must include the following:
  • the residential address of the candidate, which must be in the appropriate district of the state corresponding to the office being sought
  • a copy of a government-issued photo ID, a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, or document issued by a government entity in order to prove the residence address listed on the declaration
  • the candidate's Social Security number, license number, or state identification number
• by having 10 or more registered voters file a certificate of candidacy on behalf of any registered voter they wish to nominate as a candidate for their major party; this must be done no earlier than the first Monday in February and no later than the first Monday in March preceding the primary election (if nominated in this way, the candidate must file an acceptance of candidacy with the required filing fee during the candidate filing period)

The filing fees mentioned above vary according to the office being sought and can be paid by cash, cashier's check, or certified check. Personal checks, campaign checks, and credit cards are not acceptable forms of payment. The filing fees are detailed in the table below.

Filing fees
Office sought	Filing fee
United States Senator	$500
United States Representative and Governor of Nevada	$300
Nevada state executive offices other than governor	$200
Nevada Senator and Nevada Assemblyman	$100

If the candidate is seeking office in the United States House of Representatives or Nevada State Legislature in a district within a single county, he or she must file with the county clerk of that county. Candidates for all other offices must file with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Minor party candidates

Minor parties must file a list of candidates with the Nevada Secretary of State before any minor party candidates can file individually. This list must be signed in the presence of a notary public by the party officer named to do so on the minor party's certificate of existence. The list must be filed during the candidate filing period, which starts on the first Monday in March and ends on the second Friday in March following that Monday.

Once the candidate list has been submitted to the Nevada Secretary of State, a minor party candidate can file his or her declaration of candidacy and pay the required filing fee (detailed above). These must be filed during the candidate filing period. If the candidate is seeking office in the United States House of Representatives or Nevada State Legislature in a district within a single county, he or she must file with the county clerk of that county. Candidates for all other offices must file with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Minor party candidates are not permitted to participate in the primary election. Minor parties nominate their candidates to be placed on the general election ballot and may field only one candidate for each office appearing on the ballot.

Independent candidates

Independent candidates may run only in the general election. Independent candidates must petition to be placed on the ballot. This may be done in one of two ways:

• by submitting a petition containing signatures of registered voters equal in number to at least 1 percent of the total votes cast at the last general election for the same office the candidate seeks
• by submitting a petition containing 250 signatures of registered voters if the candidate seeks statewide office, or containing 100 registered voters' signatures if the candidate seeks any other office

Before circulating a petition, a candidate must file a copy of the petition with the Nevada Secretary of State after January 2 of the year of the election. The petition may be circulated as soon as the copy has been filed. The completed petition must then be filed with the counties where the petition was circulated in order to be verified. In order to have the petitions verified in time to file them during the candidate filing period, which starts on the first Monday in March and ends on the third Friday in June preceding the general election, the petitions must be submitted to the counties 10 business days before the last day of the candidate filing period. A verified petition may then be filed with the declaration of candidacy and filing fee with the Nevada Secretary of State unless the candidate is seeking office in a district existing entirely within one county. Such candidates file all documents and fees with the county clerk of the appropriate county.

Petition requirements

See also: Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions

In some cases, candidates may need to obtain signatures via the petition process in order to gain ballot access. This section outlines the laws and regulations pertaining to petitions and circulators.

Format requirements

In Nevada, the rules regulating the use of petitions are the same no matter the purpose of the petition.

• Prior to circulation, copies of all petitions must be submitted to the Nevada Secretary of State for approval. Once the petition has been approved, it can be signed by any registered voter in the appropriate district. A registered voter who signs the petition may be affiliated with any political party without losing his or her party standing or the right to vote in his or her party's primary.
• All petitions must adhere to the following format:
  1. If longer than one page, the pages must be bound together and numbered sequentially.
  2. The name of the candidate and the office being sought must be displayed. No more than one candidate's name may appear on the petition.
  3. The county the petition is being circulated in must be displayed, and only voters in that county may sign.
• Once the petition has been completed, it must be submitted to the county or counties in which it was circulated so it can be verified. This must be done 25 business days before the last day the petition must be officially filed.

Signature requirements

An individual who signs a petition must include his or her name, address, and the date of signing. Each signature must be made in ink. Any signature not made in ink will be disregarded. The circulator of the petition must sign, before a notary public, an affidavit on the back of the petition verifying that all signatures were recorded in the circulator's presence. The circulator must also affirm that, to the best of his or her knowledge, all signers were registered voters at the time of signing.

Circulation requirements

Circulators of petitions are not required to be registered voters in Nevada. The statutes do not stipulate any requirements for circulators in Nevada.

Election-related agencies

Seal of Nevada

See also: State election agencies

Nevada Secretary of State

101 North Carson Street, Suite 3

Carson City, Nevada 89701-3714

Telephone: 775-684-5705

Fax: 775-684-5718

Email: nvelect@sos.nv.gov

Website: http://nvsos.gov/index.aspx?page=1

---

Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool.

---

Term limits

State executives

See also: State executives with term limits and States with gubernatorial term limits

State executive term limits in Nevada are as follows:

• The governor may serve a total of two terms.
• The lieutenant governor may serve a total of two terms.
• The secretary of state may serve a total of two terms.
• The attorney general may serve a total of two terms.
• The treasurer may serve a total of two terms.
• The controller may serve a total of two terms.

State legislators

See also: State legislatures with term limits

Members of the Nevada State Legislature are term-limited to serve a total of 12 years, six terms in the Nevada State Assembly and three terms in the Nevada State Senate.

Term limits were imposed on Nevada state legislators by a 1996 ballot initiative and took effect for those elected in 1998.

Congressional partisanship

See also: List of United States Representatives from Nevada and List of United States Senators from Nevada

Below is the current partisan breakdown of the congressional delegation from Nevada.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Nevada
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	3	5
Republican	0	1	1
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	4	6

State legislative partisanship

Below is the current partisan breakdown of the state legislature of Nevada.

Nevada State Senate

Party		As of January 2024
	Democratic Party	13
	Republican Party	7
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		21

Nevada Assembly

Party		As of January 2024
	Democratic Party	27
	Republican Party	14
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total		42

Related legislation

The embedded table below lists state bills affecting ballot access requirements for candidates introduced in Neveda. The following information is included for each bill:

• State
• Bill number
• Official name or caption
• Most recent action date
• Legislative status
• Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized alphabetically, first by state and then by bill number. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.

Ballotpedia’s comprehensive Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker is the basis for this data. This user-friendly tracker covers thousands of election-related bills in state legislatures, and organizes them by topic with neutral, expert analysis from Ballotpedia’s election administration researchers.

The Ballot Bulletin

The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy. The Ballot Bulletin tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker. You'll also be able to track relevant legislation, with links to and summaries of the bills themselves.

Recent issues

Click below to view recent issues of The Ballot Bulletin.

• The Ballot Bulletin: December 15, 2023
• The Ballot Bulletin: December 8, 2023
• The Ballot Bulletin: December 1, 2023
• The Ballot Bulletin: November 17, 2023
• The Ballot Bulletin: November 10, 2023

Subscribe

Enter your email address below to subscribe to The Ballot Bulletin.

Email *

Please complete the Captcha above

See also

• Ballot access requirements for presidential candidates in Nevada
• Ballot access requirements for political parties in Nevada
• Nevada elections, 2024
• Campaign finance requirements in Nevada
• Counties in Nevada
• List of United States Representatives from Nevada
• List of United States Senators from Nevada
• Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions
• State executives with term limits
• States with gubernatorial term limits
• State legislatures with term limits

External links

Official state and federal links

• Nevada Secretary of State
• Official Website of the Federal Election Commission
• Nevada Secretary of State, "Candidate Information"
• Nevada Secretary of State, "Campaign Guide 2024"

Other information

• Ballot Access News – News updates and analysis of ballot access issues
• ThirdPartyPolitics.us – Blog about American third party and independent politics
• National Voter Outreach – Political consulting firm that specializes in organizing petition signature drives