Nye and Nevada see record turnout for 2020 election

It has been one of the most contentious election years in U.S. history and though Election Day has now come and gone, it’s still not quite over.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, mail ballots have become a major factor in Nevada’s election and consequently, the final results of the various races, federal, state and local, did not come with absolute certainty on Tuesday night, as residents have become accustomed to seeing. Instead, a bulk of results were to be announced on Tuesday night but those were only preliminary. The remainder of the results are to be announced bit by bit, day by day, as the ballots that continue to arrive in the mail in the coming days are counted and their totals added to those already received, those cast during the early voting period and those cast on Election Day.

With different states all over the country all following their own various election laws and processes, it could take days or, more likely, weeks for the final result of what is undoubtedly the most watched race of 2020, the presidential election, to be known. Closer to home, however, the winners of local and state races should become clear within the week.

As of press deadline for this publication, polls were still open in Nye County and no election results had been released, but the number of voters participating in mail-in voting and the early voting period for the 2020 general election have been astounding, leading many to speculate that the turnout through the close of polls on Election Day would prove record-breaking not just here in Nye County and Nevada but all over the country as well.

Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino told the Pahrump Valley Times that as of the end of the early voting period in Nye County, over 8,000 votes had been cast in person at polling locations throughout the county.

As of the night of Monday, Nov. 2, Merlino also reported that her office had received more than 12,000 ballots through the mail system, bringing the total to upward of 20,000 before the polls even opened on Tuesday, Nov. 3 for Election Day and representing an already record-breaking local turnout.

As for the state of Nevada, the same story holds true. Information kept by the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office on previous elections goes back decades. A perusal of those records by the Pahrump Valley Times showed that that even without the numbers from this Tuesday’s voting, Nye County and Nevada’s voter turnout had already surpassed every general election dating back to at least 1998.

With figures from Election Day itself added in, Nevada and Nye County are both expected to show quite a substantial increase in voter participation in comparison to all other years for which detailed election turnout statistics have been kept.

As to how the election has been proceeding locally, Merlino also told the Times that despite COVID-19 and the necessity for increased sanitization measures, as well as long lines at the polls, early voting for the 2020 general election had proceeded fairly well.

“I think it went smoothly under the circumstances,” Merlino wrote on Monday night. “We processed voters as quickly as we could and appreciate that everyone was so patient.”

Merlino noted that cleaning protocols put in place this year included asking voters to use hand sanitizer prior to touching any voting equipment and after a voter was done, election workers also cleaned the styluses used for check-in and wiped down the machines following each and every use. “The cleaning did slow down the process somewhat but the workers and my staff did a great job keeping things moving quickly,” Merlino stated.

On the subject of the release of the 2020 general election results, Merlino took a moment to explain the process for those who may be unfamiliar with it. “Assembly Bill 4 authorized the counting of ballots to begin on Oct. 19,” Merlino informed. “We hired a six-member ballot central counting board that did start processing ballots that day. Ballots go through a signature verification process first and then the returned voted ballot is noted in the voter record.

“Once that is done the board separates the voted ballots from the envelopes. The voted ballots are then scanned into the election system,” Merlino continued. “The preliminary results will be released on election night but we can continue to process for 10 days after the election. The canvass of votes is scheduled for Nov. 16.”

Readers can look for details on the results of the 2020 General Election as of Thursday, Nov. 5 in the Friday, Nov. 6 edition of the Pahrump Valley Times. Results will also be reported daily at www.silverstateelection.nv.gov

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com