More than a quarter-million Nevadans had participated in the state’s primary elections as of Friday afternoon, a few hours before the two weeks of early voting concluded.
The 270,008 people who had voted in person or returned a mail ballot amounted to a roughly 11 percent participation rate out of the more than 2.4 million active and inactive registered voters in Nevada as of Monday.
At least 181,139 ballots had been returned statewide, and 86,869 people had voted in person since May 23.
Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, Nevada’s chief election official, said Friday that the early voting process had proceeded without hiccups, crediting county clerks and election workers.
“Everything has gone very smoothly,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Clerks have been preparing for this moment since the day after the 2024 election.”
Aguilar said he otherwise wished turnout was higher.
Nevadans who want to vote in person still have one final chance: on Election Day Tuesday.
Those who wish to mail back their ballots can do so through that day, although Aguilar recommends that they take them to drop boxes or polling locations instead, to ensure that they are counted.
For now, Nevada law allows returned mail ballots to be counted several days after Election Day. Ballots postmarked by Election Day are accepted for up to four days, while mail returned without a legible postmark is accepted for up to three days.
A Supreme Court ruling — which is expected to come down after the primaries — could lead to the reversal of laws in Nevada and about a dozen other states that allow the counting of mail ballots received days after Election Day.
If the higher court rules against Mississippi, whose law was challenged by the Republican National Committee and the Mississippi Libertarian Party, the change could go into effect as early as November’s midterm elections.
“As opposed to any of the president’s executive orders, we can’t challenge a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court or file a lawsuit against it,” Aguilar said in late May. “We have to accept it.”
About 57,000 Clark County residents had voted early and in person as of Friday afternoon, state data showed. Almost 108,000 had returned their mail ballots.
Aguilar said that he’s been encouraging clerks to push voters whose mail ballots require signature verification, a process known as curing, to get it done as soon as possible.
Clark County had flagged at least 1,621 ballots that needed curing as of Friday afternoon. At least 543 of those voters had since verified their signatures.
There is a plethora of nonpartisan and partisan local, state and federal races on the ballot. Some can be won outright this month. For others, like congressional and the governor’s races, voters will have a chance to dwindle the field that will then face off in November.
Nevada offers same-day, in-person registration for inactive voters, which requires a state identification card. Registered voters can track their ballots at myballot.nv.gov and update their contact information at vote.nv.gov.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
