Jessica Hill | (TNS) Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — Nevadans will vote in critical primary races during what could be sweltering heat Tuesday, continuing the tradition of poor weather on Election Days.
Las Vegas Valley temperatures could reach as high as 107 degrees as registered voters decide races that could have consequential impacts on the Silver State and the country as a whole.
Republicans will pick their nominee for the closely watched Senate race, in which Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is vulnerable and the outcome could determine party control of the U.S. Senate. Republican voters in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District that covers Summerlin, Spring Valley and Enterprise can choose among a crowded field of candidates looking to defeat Rep. Susie Lee in November.
Las Vegans also will vote in the mayor’s race, in which over a dozen candidates hope to represent the city’s more than 650,000 residents and succeed the long reign of the Goodmans. Races for the school board, Board of Regents and justices of the peace are also on the ballot.
Ahead of the primary, former President Donald Trump held a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, in which he encouraged his supporters to vote. Late Sunday evening, Trump endorsed Sam Brown in the Senate primary, calling him a “fearless American patriot” on his social media platform. More than 96,000 Republicans had already voted by the time his endorsement came out, according to data from the secretary of state’s office.
Trump also threw his support behind congressional candidate and former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee in one of the three congressional district races in Southern Nevada.
Trump had previously visited Las Vegas after the presidential preference primary and the Republican Party caucuses, which he won in a landslide against one other candidate, Ryan Binkley.
‘We want everybody to be safe’
Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said that during the early voting period, around 75% of those who participated submitted a mail ballot, which serves as an alternative way to vote in extreme weather.
“They don’t have to stand in lines, they don’t have to be in the heat,” Aguilar said Friday. “We are making it accessible for them to participate in a comfortable way, and it’s safe.”
On previous Election Days, Nevadans also saw some adverse weather. During the 2022 midterms, Las Vegas saw windy, cool and rainy weather, while Northern Nevadans faced heavy snow.
Polling locations Tuesday are mindful of the heat issues and are adapting, Aguilar said.
“We want everybody to be safe, and we want everybody to have a good experience,” Aguilar said.
Plenty of polling places
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More than 100 vote centers are scattered across the county for all Nevada voters on Election Day. All vote centers also serve as mail ballot drop-off locations. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
To find a voting location, go to https://elections.clarkcountynv.gov/VoteCentersVoter/index.html. That website will also show whether there’s a line at a voting location.
Some places to vote in the Las Vegas Valley include Galleria at Sunset, Whitney Recreation Center, Desert Breeze Community Center, Cambridge Recreation Center, Centennial Hills Thunderbird Park and Silverado Ranch Park.
Aguilar has tried to improve Nevada’s results release, as the battleground state gained national attention in both 2020 and 2022 for its slower release of results. The secretary of state’s office released guidance to all counties to start tabulating mail ballots and early voting in-person results at 8 a.m. on Election Day.
As soon as all the polls are closed and the last voter has voted, the secretary of state’s office will release the first set of election results consisting of mail ballots received before Election Day and in-person early voting returns. After that, clerks and registrars will release updated returns as they are tabulated.
“If we can eliminate that gap to release the results we are allowed to release by statute, then I think we can get the public to understand and then the clerks … after that data dump occurs, they can then focus on releasing the results of in-person voting that evening,” Aguilar said.
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