Poll workers attend the ballot box in Genoa, Nevada's oldest voting precinct, on the 2022 Nevada Day holiday. The box will be back in front of the Genoa Town Hall 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 1, 2024, for those voting in the Presidential Preference Primary, according to the Clerk Treasurer's Office. A week later, on Feb. 8, the town hall will host a caucus meeting for Republicans in Precinct 5.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Republicans can have their caucus and vote in the presidential primary, too, Clerk-Treasurer Amy Burgans told county commissioners on Thursday.
“The caucus is not run by the state so people can vote in both,” she said. “It isn’t considered double voting.”
Burgans said that won’t be true for the actual primary and general elections in June and November this year.
“The No. 1 question we get is ‘where is Trump, why isn’t he on the ballot?’ because people think it’s our fault he’s not on there.”
Nikki Haley is the only Republican candidate on the ballot who has participated in the debates, and is still in the race. Former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and others will go before Republicans Feb. 8 at caucuses throughout the state.
“A caucus is a meeting of a party,” Burgans said. “They opted to continue with the caucus, which is their right. The parties are private organizations and the last thing we want is to tell a private party how to run their business.”
Republicans are scheduled to conduct the caucus and precinct meetings across the county 5-7:30 p.m. Feb. 8. To participate, voters must go to the location based on their precinct and bring identification.
Mailed ballots in the presidential race went out to voters over the past week and are being cast now. Early voting opens for a week on Jan. 27 for those wishing to use a voting machine and election day is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 6.
On Monday, election workers will begin deconstructing ballots in the commission chambers. Livestreaming of all the rooms will also be on the Douglas County YouTube channel.
The presidential primary will be a dress rehearsal for the June 11 primary.
Filing for nonjudicial office is March 4-15. Douglas candidates may file with the Clerk-Treasurer’s Office while state candidates, including the Legislature, file at the Secretary of State’s Office.
Those seeking partisan office appear on ballots for their respective party. Burgans noted that with Douglas County’s large Republican majority, those candidates are generally selected in the primary.
Three county commission and four school board seats are up for election this year. Both county justice courts will see races, but those won’t be on the ballot until November.
Nonpartisan and minor party voters will see nonpartisan offices, such as school, town or general improvement district boards, on their ballot.
Commissioners had a lot of questions about the county’s two dozen improvement districts which have 75 offices up for election this year.
They had to appoint a majority of the trustees to the Elks Point Sanitation District in December, after learning many of those serving weren’t actually registered to vote in Douglas County.
Burgans said she’s reached out to offer help to the districts in making sure their trustees are actually eligible for the seat they are holding.
The districts the county has the most concern about are the tiny general improvement districts at Lake Tahoe, which rarely see candidates file for election and often reappoint members.
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