1. All justices of the peace, except those located in county seats, are ex officio field registrars to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

2. The county clerk shall appoint at least one registered voter to serve as a field registrar of voters who, except as otherwise provided in NRS 293.5055, shall preregister and register voters within the county for which the field registrar is appointed. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 1, a candidate for any office may not be appointed or serve as a field registrar. A field registrar serves at the pleasure of the county clerk and shall perform such duties as the county clerk may direct. The county clerk shall not knowingly appoint any person as a field registrar who has been convicted of a felony involving theft or fraud. The Secretary of State may bring an action against a county clerk to collect a civil penalty of not more than $5,000 for each person who is appointed as a field registrar in violation of this subsection. Any civil penalty collected pursuant to this subsection must be deposited with the State Treasurer for credit to the State General Fund.

3. A field registrar shall demand of any person who applies for preregistration or registration all information required by the application to preregister or register to vote, as applicable, and shall administer all oaths required by this chapter.

4. When a field registrar has in his or her possession five or more completed applications to preregister or register to vote, the field registrar shall forward them to the county clerk, but in no case may the field registrar hold any number of them for more than 10 days.

5. Each field registrar shall forward to the county clerk all completed applications in his or her possession immediately after the last day to register to vote by mail pursuant to NRS 293.560 or 293C.527, as applicable. Within 5 days after the last day to register to vote by mail pursuant to NRS 293.560 or 293C.527, as applicable, a field registrar shall return all unused applications in his or her possession to the county clerk. If all of the unused applications are not returned to the county clerk, the field registrar shall account for the unreturned applications.

6. Each field registrar shall submit to the county clerk a list of the serial numbers of the completed applications to preregister or register to vote and the names of the electors on those applications. The serial numbers must be listed in numerical order.

7. Each field registrar shall post notices sent to him or her by the county clerk for posting in accordance with the election laws of this State.

8. A field registrar, employee of a voter registration agency or person assisting a voter pursuant to NRS 293.5235 shall not:

(a) Delegate any of his or her duties to another person; or

(b) Refuse to preregister or register a person on account of that person’s political party affiliation.

9. A person shall not hold himself or herself out to be or attempt to exercise the duties of a field registrar unless the person has been so appointed.

10. A county clerk, field registrar, employee of a voter registration agency or person assisting another person pursuant to NRS 293.5235 shall not:

(a) Solicit a vote for or against a particular question or candidate;

(b) Speak to a person on the subject of marking his or her ballot for or against a particular question or candidate; or

(c) Distribute any petition or other material concerning a candidate or question which will be on the ballot for the ensuing election,

while preregistering or registering the person.

11. When the county clerk receives applications to preregister or register to vote from a field registrar, the county clerk shall issue a receipt to the field registrar. The receipt must include:

(a) The number of persons preregistered or registered; and

(b) The political party of the persons preregistered or registered.

12. A county clerk, field registrar, employee of a voter registration agency or person assisting another person pursuant to NRS 293.5235 shall not:

(a) Knowingly:

(1) Register a person who is not a qualified elector or a person who has filed a false or misleading application to register to vote; or

(2) Preregister a person who does not meet the qualifications set forth in NRS 293.4855; or

(b) Preregister or register a person who fails to provide satisfactory proof of identification and the address at which the person actually resides.

13. A county clerk, field registrar, employee of a voter registration agency, person assisting another person pursuant to NRS 293.5235 or any other person providing a form for the application to preregister or register to vote to an elector for the purpose of preregistering or registering to vote:

(a) If the person who assists another person with completing the form for the application to preregister or register to vote retains the form, shall enter his or her name on the duplicate copy or receipt retained by the person upon completion of the form; and

(b) Shall not alter, deface or destroy an application to preregister or register to vote that has been signed by a person except to correct information contained in the application after receiving notice from the person that a change in or addition to the information is required.

14. If a field registrar violates any of the provisions of this section, the county clerk shall immediately suspend the field registrar and notify the district attorney of the county in which the violation occurred.

15. A person who violates any of the provisions of subsection 8, 9, 10, 12 or 13 is guilty of a category E felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.

(Added to NRS by 1960, 272; A 1975, 942; 1981, 1701; 1985, 561; 1987, 355, 696, 1372, 1617; 1991, 2222; 1993, 2190; 1995, 680, 1266, 2269; 1997, 232, 608, 762, 774; 2003, 1719, 2178; 2005, 1435; 2011, 2093; 2017, 405, 3333, 3851; 2019, 4088, effective January 1, 2020)