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Nevada polls may see fewer lines after shift to mail voting

Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
by Associated Press
| June 9, 2020 8:27 AM

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Some Nevada voters were embracing the state’s first nearly all-mail primary election Tuesday brought on by the coronavirus while others were sitting this one out.

Early casting of mail-in ballots and the limited number of polling places being opened were on track with past primary elections. But it’s anyone’s guess as to how many voters will turn out to take advantage of a new law allowing people to register to vote at the polls.

“So far, with only one location, turnout has been extremely low in person,” Washoe County Registrar of Voters Deanna Spikula said Monday. “We don’t know what to expect Election Day.”

Jim Green of Reno said it’s the first time he hasn’t voted since he cast his first presidential ballot for independent John Anderson nearly 40 years ago. The 60-year-old medical technician said he didn’t get an absentee ballot in the mail and didn’t learn until it was too late he could have voted in person on Election Day.

Ryan and Lana Caddel of neighboring Sparks said they went to a post office Monday night to personally drop their absentee ballots in the mail. They said it wasn’t because they were worried about the coronavirus or the potential for voter fraud.

“We’ve had our mail taken out of our mailbox before,” Lana Caddel said.

“This way, we’ve given our ballot to the federal government,” Ryan Caddel added.

Both are regular voters. But Ryan Caddel says he doesn’t always vote in primaries and might have skipped this one if not for the convenience of the mail-in ballot.

To let voters avoid the risks of contracting the virus while standing in long lines and using shared surfaces at polling places, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske sent absentee ballots to voters that can be mailed back or dropped off — a break from the practice of most Nevada voters who prefer to show up at the polls, typically during two weeks of early voting.

Cegavske’s office sent ballots to all active registered voters, including those who have voted in one of the past two federal elections, updated their registration or had some other contact with election officials.

Inactive voters in Clark County, the state’s biggest, were automatically mailed ballots after a legal challenge from the Nevada State Democratic Party. In other counties, inactive voters who didn’t request a ballot must show up at their polling place. Those who aren’t registered or want to change parties must now do that in person Tuesday.

Green usually votes Republican but not always. He said he has mixed feelings about mail-in balloting in general and would have been more open to it if Nevada had previously conducted elections through the mail.

“I didn’t have confidence in the secretary of state to handle the volume of mail-in ballots,” he said. “Oregon has done it for years, but they took a while to get ramped up.”

As of Monday morning, more than 341,000 ballots had been cast in Nevada, which represents about 21% turnout. Two years ago, 23% of active voters participated in the primary and in 2016, turnout was 18.5%.

The top-ticket races include Nevada’s four U.S. House seats, where the incumbents — three Democrats and one Republican — are all expected to sail through the primary challenges. The biggest question is who their opponents will be in November.

Two Democratic-held U.S. House seats, Nevada’s 3rd and 4th Districts, could flip to Republicans in the November general election. That’s drawn a number of GOP candidates to face off in the primary.

Republicans have six candidates to choose from in Nevada’s 3rd District, which encompasses southwest Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Laughlin. They include former professional wrestler Dan Rodimer and former State Treasurer Dan Schwartz.

Democrat Rep. Susie Lee is facing two challengers in the primary, but she’s considered a heavy favorite.

Nevada’s 4th District, held by Democrat Steven Horsford, has drawn eight Republicans to the race, including former state lawmaker Jim Marchant and business owner and former Miss Nevada Lisa Song Sutton, who recently acknowledged she hasn’t voted in 12 years.

Horsford’s performance in the primary will be watched closely after he acknowledged having a years-long extramarital affair, but he’s not expected to face any serious challenge.

In northern Nevada, Republican Mark Amodei is expected to easily fend off two challengers to his 2nd District seat. Though Amodei is expected to win reelection in the Republican-heavy district in November, Democrats hoping to improve their numbers are lining up to challenge him.

Seven Democrats will vie to become their party’s nominee and take on Amodei, including retired mountaineer and actress Patricia Ackerman, former journalist Ed Cohen and former Obama administration official Clint Koble.

In Nevada’s 1st District, encompassing the casino-lined Las Vegas Strip, incumbent Democrat Dina Titus is expected to fend off two poorly funded challengers. On the other side of the aisle, four Republicans are seeking the seat, but only one has filed a campaign finance report and it disclosed little fundraising. Whoever wins the GOP primary will face a likely insurmountable challenge against Titus in the Democrat-heavy district.

Voters also will settle inter-party contests in nearly 30 state Senate and Assembly races and narrow the field in non-partisan races for two state Supreme Court seats, nearly two dozen family and district court judgeships, three university regent races and three Board of Education contests.

___

Associated Press writer Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada contributed to this report.

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