Washoe County, rurals energized to vote in primary. Clark County? Not so much.

Nevada on the whole is not on track to break any voter turnout records this primary election.

That’s not surprising for a midterm election cycle, especially one without a U.S. Senate race on the ballot. But it does mean that a number of key races could be decided by a relatively small number of voters.

More than 302,000 Nevadans statewide had cast their ballots as of late Monday, according to a data dashboard maintained by the Secretary of State. With around 2 million active registered voters, that would put turnout at around 14% going into Primary Election Day.

Turnout in Washoe County is notably higher than it is statewide and is no doubt buoyed by the competitive primary races for Congressional District 2. On the Republican side, former state Sen. James Settelmeyer faces President Trump-backed David Flippo. On the Democratic side, former state Assemblymember Teresa Benitez Thompson faces former independent candidate Greg Kidd. The City of Reno, in Washoe County, also has a competitive nine-way mayoral race on its ballot. Washoe County’s turnout sat at around 20% going into Election Day.

Meanwhile, turnout in Clark County sat at around 12%.

Washoe and the rural counties outperforming Clark on voter turnout rate is typical, though it may wind up more pronounced this year because of the competitiveness of specific races on the ballot.

Tens of thousands of votes are expected to be cast in-person on Election Day, and mail ballots will continue pouring in through the U.S. Postal Service or designed ballot dropboxes across the state.

Nevadans using vote by mail are encouraged to track their ballot. Doing so will alert voters to any potential issues with their ballot.

Voter Guide: 2026 Primary Election

The majority of primary election mail ballots received so far by counties have been accepted, meaning there were no issues with them. A small percentage — 1.2%, or 2,577 returned ballots — have not been accepted. Typically this is because the voter forgot to sign the envelope containing the ballots, or their signature did not match.

Those ballots must be cured by the voter. Election officials will be reaching out to those voters.

Two-thirds of voters so far have opted to use a mail ballot. The rest cast ballots in person during the state’s two-week early voting period, which ended Friday. Turnout data shows Democrats have a stronger preference for mail ballots while Republicans have a stronger preference for voting in person. But both methods remain popular with voters.

In total, the voting method split aligns with what the state has seen in previous election cycles since adopting universal mail ballots. In the 2022 primary election, 21.6% of voters cast ballots in person on Election Day, 21.7% voted during early voting, and 56.7% voted by mail.

Overall turnout in the 2022 primary was 25.8%.

Election results will be posted by the Nevada SOS at SilverStateElection.NV.gov