Tom Tijerino votes early on Monday afternoon, having brought his notated sample ballot with him to the Churchill County Commission Chambers. About 1,400 voters had shown up since early voting opened Saturday, said Deputy Clerk Erin Montalvo.
Churchill County is home to 13,133 registered voters, and the Clerk/Treasurer’s Office estimates high numbers of 8,000 to 10,000 will submit their ballots during the current early voting period.
Kelly Helton, county clerk/treasurer, said she has obviously noticed the heightened controversial political environment yet reaffirmed how clerk offices statewide are following protocol exactly, maintaining security and non-bias.
Since opening Saturday and including Monday, early voting has resulted in 2,094 ballots being cast including early voting, absentee and mail-in.
In the 2012 presidential election, there were 1,318 early voting, absent and mail-in ballots cast in the same time frame. In the 2014 non-presidential election, there were 812 during that timeframe.
Statewide there has been a turnout of 143,790 voters with 69,853 Democrats, 42,247 Republicans and 26,690 Independents. Churchill County has seen 954 Republicans, 404 Democrats and 287 Independents take advantage or early voting.
No doubt the presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has spurred voters to the election booths considering how Nevada is one of three battleground states. The U.S. Senate race between three-time Congressman Joe Heck and former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has also been a major race. Both candidates have been running neck-and-neck to succeed retiring Sen. Harry Reid.
The clerk’s office had reported that during the 2008 presidential election, early voting never exceeded 456 people on a given day. This year, that number has exceeded 800 on both Saturday and Monday.
“People are appreciative of the early voting,” said Deputy Clerk Erin Montalvo.
Early voting hours through Nov. 4 are Saturdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Monday to Friday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Churchill County Administrative Complex Commission Chambers, suite 145, at 155 N. Taylor St.
If an absentee ballot is desired, requests must be submitted in writing to the Clerk’s Office no later than Nov. 1 — ballots must returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Election Day hours on Nov. 8 are from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Fallon Convention Center at 100 Campus Way.
Voters are encouraged to review and notate their mailed sample ballot beforehand to save time on location. Also the information on the mailing label will assist election workers in speeding up the voting process; workers won’t open your sample ballot.
For more information, email elections@churchillcounty.org or call 775-423-6028 with questions. Visit www.ChurchillCounty.org for more information.
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