The Latest: Lines form at Vegas-area primary sign-up sites
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Latest on Nevada's mail-in primary election (all times local):
2:05 p.m.
Lines were reported Tuesday at three sites in and around Las Vegas where people could register to vote and have ballots printed to do so.
Clark County elections spokesman Dan Kulin acknowledged there were lines but declined to estimate wait times at the locations at community centers east and west of the Las Vegas Strip and at the county Elections Department office in North Las Vegas.
State election officials shifted the primary away from in-person voting and encouraged casting ballots by mail over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
Officials said early casting of mail-in ballots and the limited number of polling places opened were on track with past primary elections. Kulin said there were few delays at 27 locations set up in Clark County only for ballot drop-offs.
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8:45 a.m.
Long-time northern Nevada voters Ryan and Lana Caddel say they went to the Post Office Monday night to personally drop their absentee ballots in the mail box ahead of the state's first mail-in primary election.
The Sparks couple says they weren't worried about the coronavirus or the potential for voter fraud. They said they made the trip because they've had things stolen from their residential mail box before and didn't want to take any chances.
Both are regular voters. But Ryan says he doesn't always vote in primaries and might have skipped this one if not for the convenience of the mail-in ballot.
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8:30 a.m.
Some Nevada voters are embracing the state's first nearly all-mail primary election brought on by the coronavirus. Others are sitting this one out.
47-year-old Ryan Caddel of Sparks is a longtime voter in his native Nevada but he says he might have skipped this primary if not for the convenience of the mail-in ballot.
Jim Green of Reno says it's the first time he hasn't voted since he cast his first presidential ballot for independent John Anderson nearly 40 years ago. The 60-year-old medical technician says he didn't get an absentee ballot in the mail and didn't learn until it was too late Tuesday that he could have voted in person on Election Day.
Nevada election officials aren’t sure if they’ll have long lines — or any lines at all.
The state shifted the primary away from in-person voting over concerns of spreading the coronavirus, and instead encouraged voters to cast ballots by mail.
Early participation from mail-in ballots and a limited number of polling places so far is on track with past primary elections, but it’s anyone’s guess as to how many voters will turn up Tuesday, including those taking advantage for the first time of a new law allowing people to register to vote at the polls.
Nevada shifted Tuesday's primary election away from in-person voting, where long lines and shared surfaces present risks of spreading the coronavirus.