Nevada secretary of state launches VIVID, an online dashboard tracking mail ballots and voter turnout for the Nov. 3 election

What happened

The Nevada secretary of state's office launched an online dashboard on Thursday that tracks statewide voter turnout, mail ballots and in-person voting, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The tool is called the Visual Interface for Voter Information and Data, or VIVID, and it is available at VIVID.NV.gov.

Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar described the goal in a statement. "Transparency builds trust into our elections," Aguilar said, according to the Sun. The launch comes during early voting for the Nov. 3 general election. More coverage of the races on the ballot is on our elections page.

What the dashboard shows

According to the Sun, VIVID organizes election data into several categories that the public can review. Many of the figures can be broken down by party and by county.

Mail ballots

The dashboard reports how many mail ballots were sent out, how many were returned, how many were accepted and how many are still outstanding. These totals include breakdowns by party and county, the Sun reported.

Signature curing

VIVID also shows how many ballots county election officials must cure, or verify, because of missing or mismatched signatures. It tracks how many of those ballots have since been cured, according to the Sun.

Turnout

For in-person voting, the dashboard reports early voting turnout by day. It also shows early voting and Election Day turnout by county and by party, the Sun reported.

Early numbers from the dashboard

A screenshot of VIVID published by the Sun showed figures as of 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22. At that point, county election officials had mailed 2,081,305 ballots statewide for the general election and had received 176,253.

Of the ballots received, 173,068 had been accepted and 2,249 needed to be cured, or verified, according to the screenshot. Those numbers will change as more ballots come in and as counties work through signature issues.

Key dates and tools for voters

Early voting and Election Day

Early voting began Saturday and runs through Oct. 30, the Sun reported. On Election Day, Nov. 3, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters weighing ballot measures can read our explainer on Question 7 and Nevada's proposed photo ID rules.

Mail ballot deadlines

Mail ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by county election officials by Nov. 7 to count, according to the Sun. The outlet noted that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 29 that federal law does not bar states from counting mail ballots cast by Election Day that arrive later.

Registration and ballot tracking

Voters can register or update their registration online at VOTE.NV.gov, or in person during early voting or on Election Day, the Sun reported. Voters who want to follow their own mail ballot can track it at MyBallot.NV.gov. For a look at the money behind local contests, see our report on campaign fundraising in Southern Nevada races.

What to watch next

• Early voting continues through Oct. 30, with daily in-person turnout reported on VIVID.
• Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3.
• Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day must reach county election officials by Nov. 7 to count.
• As of Oct. 22, 2,249 returned ballots needed to be cured, and VIVID will track how many are resolved.