1. A person who desires to be an independent candidate for the office of President of the United States must, not later than 5 p.m. on the second Friday in August in each year in which a presidential election is to be held, pay a filing fee of $250 and file with the Secretary of State a declaration of candidacy and a petition of candidacy, in which the person must also designate a nominee for Vice President. The petition must be signed by a number of registered voters equal to not less than 1 percent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for candidates for the offices of Representative in Congress and must request that the names of the proposed candidates be placed on the ballot at the general election that year. The candidate shall file a copy of the petition the person intends to circulate for signatures with the Secretary of State before the petition may be circulated for signatures.

2. The petition may consist of more than one document. Each document must bear the name of a county and only registered voters of that county may sign the document. The documents which are circulated for signature in a county must be submitted to that county clerk for verification in the manner prescribed in NRS 293.1276 to 293.1279, inclusive, not later than 25 working days before the last day to file the petition of candidacy with the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection 1. Each person signing shall add to his or her signature the address of the place at which he or she resides, the date that he or she signs and the name of the county wherein he or she is registered to vote. Each document of the petition must also contain the affidavit of the person who circulated the document that all signatures thereon are genuine to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief and were signed in his or her presence by persons registered to vote in that county.

3. If the candidacy of any person who seeks to qualify pursuant to this section is challenged, all affidavits and documents in support of the challenge must be filed with the First Judicial District Court not later than 5 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday in August. Any judicial proceeding relating to the challenge must be set for hearing not later than 5 days after the fourth Tuesday in August.

4. The county clerk shall not disqualify the signature of a voter who fails to provide all the information required by this section if the voter is registered in the county named on the document.

(Added to NRS by 1979, 404; A 1983, 1289; 1985, 270; 1987, 1375; 1989, 2173; 1993, 2670; 1999, 3561; 2013, 1233; 2017, 3371)