Nevada early voting 2026: In-person election sites open Saturday

Nevada’s in‑person early‑voting sites opened on Saturday, and the State Office of the Secretary of State’s dashboard shows the first batch of ballots cast. The early count totals 44,054 votes, roughly four percent of the turnout the state expects for the 2026 election.

The current tally shows Democrats with 16,492 ballots (37 percent), Republicans with 14,939 (34 percent) and other candidates with 12,623 (29 percent). Democrats lead the statewide total by 1,553 ballots. Voter registration in the state remains heavily weighted toward Clark County at 72 percent, with Washoe at 16 percent and the rural areas at 12 percent; early‑voting participation mirrors that split, with Clark accounting for 64 percent of the votes counted so far, Washoe 24 percent and rural counties 12 percent.

For comparison, early‑voting patterns in recent cycles differ markedly. In 2022, in‑person early voting made up 28 percent of total turnout and Republicans won by 50,000 ballots, while mail voting—51 percent of the total—favored Democrats by 70,000. In the 2024 cycle, in‑person early voting rose to 36 percent of the vote, giving Republicans a 97,000‑ballot edge, whereas mail voting (47 percent) gave Democrats a 66,000‑ballot advantage.

Analysts project overall turnout of about 1.14 million voters, roughly 55 percent of active voters, with a modest Republican advantage of three points (39 percent to 36 percent) and the remaining quarter of the vote going to other parties.

Sources: The Nevada Independent