False claim Trump won't be on Nevada primary ballot because of paperwork oversight | Fact check

The claim: Trump is off Nevada primary ballot because his team forgot paperwork

A Jan. 10 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims Nevadans won’t be able to vote for former President Donald Trump in the state’s February presidential primary due to an oversight by his team.

“Trump won’t be on the Nevada primary ballot,” reads the post, which is a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Don’t let them gaslight you to believe this is a political stunt by the Dems. His team forgot to fill out the paperwork on time, and I can’t stop laughing about it.”

It was shared more than 4,000 times in two days. Other versions of the claim spread on Instagram and X.

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Our rating: False

Trump and other candidates will not be on the Nevada primary ballot because they instead opted to participate in the party-run GOP caucus. Any candidate who registers for the state-run presidential primary isn't eligible to participate in the party-run caucus, which is the only way to earn delegates at the Republican National Convention.

Trump, others opted to try to earn delegates through party-run caucus instead of state-run primary

While it's correct that Trump won’t appear on the Nevada primary ballot, it’s not because of an oversight by his campaign staff.

“Only candidates who filed for the Presidential Preference Primary will appear on the ballot,” Nevada Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson Cecilia Heston told USA TODAY. “Former President Trump did not file and is instead running in the party-run caucus. The state has no involvement in the caucus.”

Though both Republican and Democratic parties have held caucuses in Nevada for years, a law passed in 2021 requires Nevada to hold a state-run presidential primary if there is more than one candidate, ABC News reported.

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The Nevada Republican Party opted to continue having a caucus, which its website says is the “only place” where Republican presidential candidates can earn delegates to the Republican National Convention in July.  Trump and his fellow candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will exclusively appear on the caucus ballot. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was among the candidates who opted to participate in the state-run primary.

“Candidates that chose to appear on the state-run primary ballot did so knowing that decision meant they could not earn delegates by appearing on the caucus ballots,” the website says.

USA TODAY reached out to Trump's campaign, the Nevada Republican Party and several users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Cecilia Heston, Jan. 11, Phone call and email exchange with USA TODAY

• Nevada GOP, accessed Jan. 11, 2024 Presidential Caucus 

• ABC News, Oct. 19, 2023, Explaining Nevada's dueling 2024 primary system and why it matters

• Associated Press, Oct. 9, 2023, Nevada must hold a GOP presidential primary, despite a party-run caucus occurring 2 days later 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Trump's team forgot to file Nevada paperwork | Fact check