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Breaking down Nevada’s 2020 voter turnout

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Nevada’s voter turnout came in a hair under 70%, although participation varied widely among counties.

According to Wednesday-morning figures from the Nevada Secretary of State’s office, 1,274,887 —or 70%—of the state’s 1,821,864 active registered voters had cast ballots on or before November 3 (with only mail ballots received on Election Day, those postmarked by that date and received by November 10, and provisional ballots still to be counted).

Statewide, about 47% of participating voters had returned their mail ballots, while 43% chose in-person early voting. About 10% voted in person on Tuesday.

Clark County’s 67.8% turnout closely mirrored the overall state rate, in line with the Las Vegas Valley’s standing as the state’s main population center and largest voter base. Likewise, Clark County followed the 47-43-10 voting method split.

Almost all other counties surpassed Clark County in participation, however. The regions with the highest turnout were Elko and Douglas counties, each with 82.1% turnout. Humboldt County followed closely with 81%, then Churchill (79.9%), Lincoln (79.5%) and Storey (79.3%). Only Lyon County had a lower turnout than Clark County, and then only slightly, with 67.7% participation.

In-person Election Day voting was most popular in Lincoln County, where 42.1% of the 2,405 total votes cast were at the polls on Tuesday. Lander County led for in-person early voting (60.7% of voters), while mailed and dropped-off ballots found the most traction in Douglas County (56.8% of voters).

Percentage-wise (though not in raw totals, due to increased registration), this year’s voter participation fell short of 2016 in Clark County and statewide, with 75.3% and 76.8% turnouts, respectively.

By party, Democrats represented 35.6% of votes cast statewide this year. Republicans cast 31.9% of votes, and all others, 22.4%.

Donald Trump carried all of Nevada’s rural counties, but Joe Biden took Clark and Washoe, giving Biden a narrow lead as of Wednesday morning.

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Hillary Davis joined Greenspun Media Group in 2020 as a general assignment news reporter after spending 14 years reporting for ...

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