Light turnout on first day of early voting

The first day of early in-person voting was light on Saturday with 85 people casting a ballot at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center.

“The turnout for in-person voting is significantly down due to mail ballots being available,” Clerk-Treasurer Amy Burgans said at the end of the day. “All in all, it was a successful first day.”

Burgans said the clerks office has checked the signatures on 2,680 ballots so far and received an additional 150 that were dropped off on Saturday, bringing the total turnout so far to nearly 3,000 voters, or about 6.8 percent of the electorate.

At 10 a.m. Saturday when the polls opened, there were a score of voters waiting to cast a ballot, including former Nevada legislators Jim Wheeler and James Settelmeyer.

Voters were required to sign a form so that their signatures could be compared with what the clerks have in their system.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar issued new guidance to release election results more rapidly after the close of polls on Election Night.

“This year, the country will be looking to Nevada to determine the winner of the Presidential election,” he said. “Voters deserve available results on election night; releasing results sooner will increase transparency, help us combat misinformation and alleviate pressure on election officials.”

The Nevada Secretary of State’s Office provided guidance to Nevada’s County Clerks and Registrars to improve tabulation timelines. The guidance will be applied to both the June Primary and November General Election.

On Friday, the Nevada Supreme Court cleared the path for the Repair The Vote initiative to gather signatures. The initiative would require voters to show identification when they vote.

Those mailing in ballots would have to include the last four digits of their drivers license number, Social Security number or the number provided by the clerk when they registered.

New links have been shared for the Town Hall Debates that occurred May 22.

For the county commissioner race, visit https://youtu.be/0wD9_sfMb8Y

For school board, visit https://youtu.be/iw02os_rekQ