Nevada Election Results
Voting results in Nevada are announced when enough early, mail-in, and in person votes have been counted to accurately predict who will win the state.
Election Day voting in Nevada
Registered voters can choose to vote in person on election day in Nevada. Federal elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1 in even years. Federal elections can be held no earlier than November 2 and no later than November 8.
Nevada allows same day registration, meaning eligible first time voters can register to vote and vote on the same day.
Voters who choose to vote in person on election day must cast their ballot at the correct polling place. Voters must also provide a valid identification and proof of address in order to vote.
Voting early and by mail in Nevada
Any registered voter in Nevada can request to vote by mail or in person at their local election office.
Nevada begins counting votes cast early before election day, but only publishes the party affiliation of the voter who cast their ballot.
Nevada Governor, Senate, and House elections
Nevada votes for governor every four years at the same time as midterm elections for the House and Senate. The governor serves a four year term and may only serve two terms regardless if they are consecutive or not.
Residents of Nevada will vote for governor next in 2022 and then in 2026 and 2030.
Nevada's two Senators are in class I and III. Voters in the state will next vote for a Senator in 2022 and 2024 and then again in 2028 and 2030. Each Senator is elected to a six-year term.
There are currently 4 U.S. Representatives serving in Congress from Nevada, a number which may change after the 2020 census results are announced. Each Representative is elected to a two-year term.
Election day exit polls and declaring a winner
Major media organizations conduct exit polls throughout the state of Nevada in order to get a general idea of who may win a given election. In addition to in-person exit polls, many media organizations have begun to combine exit polls with other traditional polling methods to factor in votes cast early.
The Associated Press and Reuters are the two main organizations who call local, state, and federal elections in Nevada. Major media organizations and newspapers like CNN, ABC/NBC/CBS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and FiveThirtyEight work closely with them and also conduct their own exit polls in order to accurately report when a winner has been declared.
Early Voting and Election Polls
Nevada allows early voting for all federal and state elections. Currently Nevada only allows early voting for a two-week period before an election, ending the weekend before an election is to be held.
Registered voters can vote early at their local polling place during the predetermined hours they are open. Additionally, voters can drop their ballots in a secure drop box which are placed in locations throughout the state.
Every registered voter is eligible to vote-by-mail, but must request to do so ahead of an election. Registered voters may also request to permanently vote-by-mail, but will need to reapply if they move to a different county within the state..
Major national and local organizations conduct polls for President, Governor, Senators, and Congressmen. Some polls are conducted over landline and cellphones while others are conducted online.
Premiere Election polls
FiveThirtyEight
CNN
ABC/NBC/CBS
New York Times
Washington Post
Declaring a Winner
A winner is declared in Nevada when it is clear a candidate has or will have more votes than any other candidate. Typically the winner will be called by The Associated Press and/or Reuters and then relayed to the American people by local and national media outlets.
Major Nevada media outlets
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Sun
Reno Gazette-Journal
Las Vegas Weekly
National media outlets
CNN
ABC/NBC/CBS
New York Times
Washington Post
FiveThirtyEight
Nevada Recount Rules
Nevada law does not provide for an automatic recount if an election is close.
Candidates may also request a full or partial recount for any reason as long as they do so within three working days of an election. The recount must be completed within 10 days of the request.
The candidate requesting the recount must pay for the recount. However, if the recount changes the outcome of an election, the candidate is refunded.
No major state or federal election in Nevada has ever been reversed following an automatic or requested recount.
Candidates may also file a state or federal lawsuit if they feel state or federal laws were violated during the course of an election. Most election related lawsuits are settled before an election takes place, but there are occasions when the courts have gotten involved, most notoriously during the 2000 Presidential election when the U.S. Supreme Court intervened and effectively stopped a recount taking place in Florida and delivering the Presidency to George W. Bush.
The Nevada caucuses are the third Presidential nominating process held in the nation and the second contest that is a caucus instead of a primary. The caucuses are "closed," which means a voter must be registered with a political party if they want to participate in a caucus, but any eligible individual may register to vote or change their party registration on caucus day.
Even though Nevada is the third nominating contest, it is important because the state is one of the most diverse in the nation, comprising of a majority minority-population that better reflects the base of the Democratic Party. Democratic contenders are vying for a share of the states 36 pledged delegates,23 of which are allocated based off the results of the caucuses.
The 2020 caucuses are on Saturday, February 22 and begin at 10:00a.m. PST, with the first round of voting starting at 12:00p.m. PST. Caucuses can take two or more hours before a final count is tallied and reported to state party headquarters. Candidates are awarded delegates based off the percentage of people who caucused for them throughout the state, so long as they meet the fifteen percent "viability threshold."
Nevada also allows early voting for the caucuses where voters rank up to five candidates depending on their preferences. Those ballots will then be added to the in-person caucus results based on a voters precinct and incorporated into the final tally at the end of the first round of voting.
Since delegates are awarded proportionally, a candidate can win the Nevada caucuses without receiving a majority of the votes cast. Whoever will be receiving a plurality of the delegates is often declared the winner by local and national media.