The 2020 general election in Nevada officially gets underway as of tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 17, with polls across Nye County opening for two weeks of early voting in the run up to the highly anticipated Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
What is considered by many to have the potential for record-breaking status, the 2020 general election covers a wide variety of races, with Nye County voters set to play their part in determining everything from a small town board election all the way up to the biggest race of all, that for the U.S. presidency.
Ballots for local residents will include the federal presidential election along with the race for U.S. Congressional District 4, as well as several state seats, including those on the Nevada Supreme Court, court of appeals and Nevada State Board of Education. Closer to home, state races include those for Nevada State Senate District 19 and Nevada Assembly District 32, while county races include Nye County Commission District 3 and Nye County School Board. The residents of Amargosa will also be tasked with selecting members for their elected town board while Pahrump voters will decide on who is to serve as Pahrump justice of the peace for the next six years.
There are just over a half-dozen names that will also appear on the ballot with no opponent against them. This is a result of either a lack of opponents from the beginning or a result of the primary election that took place in June.
Such races include the nonpartisan Nevada Supreme Court Seat B, which Kristina Pickering won in the primary by obtaining more than 50% of the overall vote, and both Fifth Judicial District Court Departments A and B, with incumbents Kimberly Wanker and Robert Lane, respectively, meeting no challengers in the 2020 election cycle.
Nye County Treasurer John Prudhont, who was appointed to that position in 2019 and was to face his first formal election this year, also did not have any opponents register to run against him. Nevada Assemblyman Gregory Hafen II, also appointed to take that seat in 2019 following the death of Dennis Hof, faced just one opponent this year, Dr. Joseph Bradley. As both Hafen and Bradley are registered Republicans, the primary was the deciding factor in that race, from which Hafen emerged triumphant.
There were two Nye County Commission seats also settled by the primary election. The first was the race for Nye County Commission District 2, in which only two Republicans had filed to run, incumbent John Koenig and former commissioner Frank Carbone. In the end, it was Carbone who secured the win for district 2. As for the commission district 1 race, the Republican field of contenders was narrowed in the primary, with Richard “Dick” Gardner taking the win. He was originally set to face a nonpartisan candidate in Darryl Lackey but Lackey was unable to secure the number of signatures necessary to get himself placed onto the 2020 general election ballot and as such, Gardner will take the district 1 seat in 2021.
With the passage of Assembly Bill 4 in a special session held over the summer by the Nevada Legislature, every active voter in Nevada will receive a mail ballot for the 2020 general election. However, that does not mean voters do not have options this election cycle.
Ballots can either be returned by mail, in which case they must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and arrive at the Nye County Clerk’s Office within seven days of Election Day in order to be counted, or handed back in person at either the clerk’s office in Pahrump, 1520 E. Basin Ave., or in Tonopah, 1010 Radar Road. Ballots can also be dropped off at any polling location in the county by the close of polls on Election Day.
For those wishing to vote in person on electronic voting machines, the Nye County Clerk’s Office said to expect long lines, as mail-in ballots must be canceled before voters can cast their ballots electronically. In addition, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be fewer machines set up and all will need to be sanitized in between voters.
For a full list of early voting and Election Day polling locations, dates and times visit www.NyeCounty.net/236/Elections
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com