Welcome to the early voting blog!

This biennial tradition to track Nevada ballot patterns begins today as voters flock to the polls — well, perhaps not flock in very large numbers because it is a primary in a midterm with not a lot to excite regular folks. (If you have any questions or corrections, criticisms or kudos, feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’m here for you.)

I will try to update this blog at least once daily, and perhaps more as events warrant. A cautionary note: This is not like a general election where I can tell with some accuracy what the partisan turnout patterns mean, sometimes even being able to declare races over before Election Day because so many Nevadans cast votes early, either in person or by mail. That will not be the case in a primary, where the most significant data point I will be watching is total turnout. The lower it is, the more likely strange stuff will happen and the base-worthy contenders will have a better chance.

For context, statewide primary turnout in 2024 was 19 percent while in 2022 it was 26 percent. Turnout also is dependent on whether there are high-profile races at the top of the ballot, and there really aren’t any, especially because there is no Senate race this cycle in Nevada.

In the governor’s race, the Democratic primary between Attorney General Aaron Ford and she-who-will-not-be-named-by-Ford (Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill, for the record) has not attracted much attention at all because Ford has not spent any money and Hill doesn’t have much. Gov. Joe Lombardo and his allies have done their best to boost Ford’s name ID with all the noise about the AG’s global peregrinations.

It is hard to believe that the feisty and expensive Democratic AG primary will drive up turnout statewide that much from what it has traditionally been, although some local races may have a slight impact. One thing to watch is turnout in Washoe County, which could be higher than usual because of the 2nd Congressional District primary and the Reno’s mayoral race. If it is really high, could that give Hill a chance for an upset? Probably not, but worth keeping an eye on it.

With the assistance of my new best friend, whose name is Claude, I have assembled historical turnout patterns and some projections for this year. You can see from this chart just how low Clark’s turnout is compared to other counties, with Washoe a little higher and the rurals significantly above both urban counties (“M” is midterm, “Pres” is presidential year).

I have used these past totals to help project what 2026 will show, and my best guess (subject to change as votes are cast) is that between 150,000 and 180,000 ballots will be cast on each partisan side. (I am not that interested in nonpartisan turnout except to see just how low it is, despite the explosion in indie registration.) I think the Republican turnout will be slightly higher than Dems. But if not, I wouldn’t extrapolate too much to the general election, which is a completely different animal. (That won’t stop partisans from boasting about their sides’ turnout and victory margins, but it’s best to either ignore or mock those releases.)

Some other facts to remember:

— Sixty-three percent of the Republican voters are in Clark while 78 percent of Democratic voters are in the South.

— Mail turnout was 65 percent of the primary total in 2024, up from 57 percent in 2022. You can use this secretary of state link to track mail turnout, which shows 27,000 ballots already have been returned, or about 1 percent of active voters.

— The first and last days of early voting are usually the highest. We will know something from today’s turnout what the trend is likely to be.

That’s all for now. What interests you? What am I missing? Just ping me at [email protected].

Early voting for the 2026 Nevada Primary Election starts on Saturday and runs until June 5.

There are several polling locations throughout the state, and to find the nearest one to you, click here.

“Early voting is the same as Election Day,” said George Guthrie, Public Information Officer, Washoe County of Registrar of Voters Office. “The only difference is that early voting a lot of times is a lot more convenient.”

If you are planning to head out to vote, here is everything you need to know.

You should check your voter registration before you head to a polling location, but if not, there is no need to sweat.

“Nevada’s really accessible when it comes to registering to vote,” Guthrie said. “If you’re not registered and you just want to walk into a vote center one day and vote, you absolutely can do that.”

Guthrie suggests bring a proof of identification and a proof of residence because the county will need that information to figure out which local races you can vote in based on where you live.

For nonpartisan voters, if you’ve received your mail-in ballot, you probably noticed the choices are limited.

Nevada runs closed primaries, meaning that you can only participate in primary elections for the party you are registered.

However, if you are a nonpartisan, you can change your party registration if you would like to vote in either the Republican or Democratic races, but you can’t vote in both.

Once your registration is good to go, you’ll get your voter card, and make your selections on the tablet.

It may look very similar to the last election cycle, but there is one notable difference. 

“You’re still going to make your choices on the tablet, but instead of those votes being on that little receipt in that little box that you take a look at and you’re kind of wondering, okay, okay, verifying your votes. Okay, I see it. Now, when you vote on that, you’re going to be printing out a full length ballot,” Guthrie said.

After your ballot is printed, make sure you put it in the scanner before you go. If you leave the voting center or polling location with that ballot, your vote will not count and you won’t be able to try again.

One way to skip the line, is filling out your mail-in ballot and then dropping it off at a drop box location.

You also don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home with your mail-in ballot, but you should send that sooner rather than later.

“Every mail ballot has to be verified by the signature,” Guthrie said. “Your signature has to match your record, and sometimes people aren’t as careful with their signatures as they need to be, and it doesn’t match. And if you send in the ballot way too late, you know on Election Day you’ve only got a very short window to contact our office.”

Signature cures must be submitted by 5 p.m. on June 15, six days after the Primary Election June 9.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Department Of Corrections may not have the drugs needed to carry out several executions.

Last month, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stated his office plans to seek execution warrants for three inmates who have been on death row for years.

Zane Floyd was convicted and sentenced to death for killing four people and wounding a fifth during an attack at a Las Vegas Albertsons in 1999.

Donald Sherman was convicted and sentenced to death for using a hammer to kill a retired doctor while he slept in 1994.

Sterling Atkins was convicted and sentenced to death for beating, sexually assaulting, and strangling a mother in North Las Vegas in 1994.

When looking at a new federal court filing from Wednesday, attorneys for the NDOC wrote “At the current time, all medications previously obtained through the Cardinal Health portal have expired, NDOC is not in the possess of any unexpired drugs that are contained in the Protocol, and NDOC has confirmed to [attorneys for Floyd, Sherman, and Atkins] that there is no plan to change the protocol to proceed with the use of expired medications.”

According to court records, the NDOC is following protocols that were proposed in 2021, which include a three-drug lethal injection procedure “in which the drugs midazolam, fentanyl and cisatracurium” are used.

When looking at what these drugs are generally used for, the Mayo Clinic says midazolam is “used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures.” Fentanyl injections are “used to relieve severe pain during and after surgery. It is also used with other medicines just before or during an operation to help the anesthetic work better.” Cisatracurium injections are typically “used before and during surgery to provide muscle relaxation.”

When looking at past cases that have used similar drugs, fentanyl has been used only once in an execution protocol. That was in 2018 in Nebraska.

The court filing states attorneys for the three inmates have offered a different protocol that would contain fentanyl, ketamine, and potassium (chloride or acetate) and not include cisatracurium.

Attorneys for the inmates also suggested using pentobarbital, which is typically used as a medical sedative and a medicine that helps with emergency seizure control, as an alternative means of execution.

Ketamine has not been used in an execution. The State of Utah used a protocol of ketamine, fentanyl, and potassium chloride in 2024. However, they changed their systems to a one-drug protocol using pentobarbital.

Why does the medication combo matter?

Advocates say it’s because lethal injections aren’t the most efficient ways to carry out executions.

“Execution is brutal. I think that a lot of the public think these guys are just kind of peacefully going to sleep in the death chamber and we know, from expert witnesses and anesthesiologists who have reviewed hundreds of autopsies, who have witnessed these executions, who know these drugs better than anybody in the world, what they say is to a medical certainty, these people are suffering,” said journalist and author Gianna Toboni, who wrote a book called The Volunteer, which looks at the history of the death penalty in the United States, specifically through the eyes of former inmate Scott Dozier. “I think when we talk about firing squad and nitrogen gas, a lot of people are stunned like ‘Oh my God. We’re going back to these gruesome, brutal methods.’ Guess what? Lethal injection is pretty brutal too. It has the highest rate of botched executions at 7%.”

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When it comes to how the State of Nevada is obtaining the drugs that will be used for the proposed executions, “NDOC takes the position that contemplation of potential alternative sources for procuring medications are, at this time, protected by the deliberate process privilege, and therefore are not discoverable unless and until Director Dzurenda acquires medications to be used in the execution.”

Toboni previously told me that is not unusual because there are several states across the U.S. who keep the processes for how they obtain execution drugs under wraps.

“A lot of states are going to what’s called compounding pharmacies. Typically, these pharmacies are used for people who have allergies but need a specific medication. So they’ll combine different ingredients in order to make a custom drug for somebody. These drugs are not FDA-approved. They’re not in any way regulated by the federal government,” Toboni explained.

Toboni worked with the NDOC a lot while researching her book and says she understands how difficult this process is.

“Now, I understand the challenge that the prison system is up against and James Dzurenda, by no means, had it easy. He was genuinely trying to get the drugs in order to do his job, to carry out that execution, and the fact of the matter is it’s hard to get these drugs.”

As for Nevada, according to the court filing, the Cardinal Health portal “continues to be the primary and preferred source for obtaining medications that may be used in executions”, but “Director Dzurenda notes that he does not feel bound to pursue access to medications through the portal only and may pursue procurement of medications through other lawful channels.”

When looking at the federal court docket, no future hearing dates have been set. However, if one is needed, the court filing says it will be scheduled for June 22, 2026.

Nevada has not carried out an execution since 2006.