Sample ballots arrive in mailboxes for Feb. 6 presidential preference primary

The arrival of sample ballots for the Feb. 6 presidential preference primary prompted a flood of phone calls, mainly for who’s not on them, according to Douglas County Clerk Treasurer Amy Burgans.

Neither former President Donald Trump nor Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appear on the Republican ballot, but two candidates who’ve suspended their campaigns, former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, do.

As of the beginning of this year, the only person on the ballot who participated in the Republican debates is Nikki Haley.

Neither Trump nor DeSantis filed to participate in the presidential primary after Nevada Republican officials challenged the validity of the primary in court and will be holding caucuses across the state on Feb. 8.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Ryan Binkley join Trump and DeSantis for the caucus.

There isn’t anything stopping Nevada Republicans from filling out the ballot they receive in the mail or voting in the presidential primary and participating in the caucus, which are essentially precinct meetings where party members express their preference for president.

Early voting in the presidential primary will last a week between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2.

There are 13 for dinner on the Democratic side of the ballot, topped by President Joe Biden.

Nonpartisan and minor party voters won’t receive a mailed ballot for the presidential primary.

As of Jan. 2, Douglas County has 21,209 active Republicans and 7,916 registered Democrats. In all, the county is home to 42,152 registered voters.

The National Republican Party challenged the number of registered voters in several Nevada counties, including Douglas, claiming there were more registered voters in the state than there were adults 18 and over based on 2021 Census numbers.

Burgans said that draft population estimates issued by the Nevada State Demographer indicated 54,343 residents in Douglas.

She pointed out that subtracting 8,151 children younger than 18 in the county leaves plenty of room for the number of active registered voters in the county.

“I would also note that when a person visits the DMV for any type of identification, they are automatically registered to vote,” she said. “This increases the percent of registered voters versus eligible voter per the population.”

According to a Census Bureau spokesperson, the 2021 Census numbers were estimates based on sampling with a margin of error.

“Due to the variance inherent in survey estimates, we do not recommend combining survey data with administrative record data, such as those produced as part of voter tallies, in this way,” the spokesman said. “This is especially true for smaller geographies, where the variance of estimates are larger than they are for the nation or state as a whole.”