LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County Commission has officially certified the results of the Feb. 6 presidential preference primary election.
On Friday, Clark County Registrar of Voters Lorena Portillo reported to the commission that more than 129,000 people had voted in the primary. That represents 16% of all active registered Republicans and Democrats, the only voters who were allowed to participate in the presidential primaries.
Most voters — more than 96,000 — chose to mail in their ballots, while 17,000 voted early and nearly 16,000 voted on Election Day.
Nearly 90,000 Democrats cast ballots, 90% of which were for President Joe Biden, who faced only token opposition. Nearly 40,000 Republicans turned out, 64% of whom voted for "None of These Candidates." Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley came in second, with nearly 30% of the vote.
Republican turnout was likely depressed because the state Republican Party held a caucus Feb. 8, where more than 60,000 voters participated. President Donald Trump was the only major candidate on the caucus ballot and won handily, earning all of the state's 26 delegates.
Confusion over the two separate contests prompted many would-be voters to ask Channel 13 to clarify why Trump's name didn't appear on the primary ballot. Under rules put down by the Nevada Republican Party, candidates such as Haley, who filed for the state-run primary, could not also participate in the party-run caucus.
Portillo told county commissioners there were 72 discrepancies in the more than 129,000 ballots cast, including 35 voters who checked in but did not vote, five voters whose cards allowed them to double-vote, and 32 others who voted in the wrong precinct. The discrepancies did not alter the overall results.
Another 215 people cast provisional ballots, 171 of which were counted. Others were not counted because the voter was not properly registered, the voter didn't actually vote or could not prove residency or proper identification.
Voting machines were audited before, during and after Election Day, and were found to be 100% accurate in tabulating votes and processing mail-in ballots, Portillo reported.
This was the first countywide election overseen by Portillo, a longtime elections department official who took over after the retirement of former Registrar Joe Gloria in December 2022.
"It is a primary election and we're very used to primary elections," Portillo said after commissioners had accepted her report. "However, it was one contest, which was unique. However, many of the processes in place we already had, and all the upgrades that we did and test before the election worked perfectly."
The elections report from Clark County, and the other 16 counties in Nevada, will now be sent to the Nevada secretary of state.
With the presidential primary election over, county elections officials will now turn their attention to the federal, state and local primary elections in June.
