Polls open until 7 p.m. for Presidential Primary

With only 273 days until the General Election, voters were headed to the polls on Tuesday to participate in the Nevada Presidential Primary.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. today at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

Only registered party members may participate in that party’s primary.

The primary isn’t expected to be competitive with President Joe Biden expected to easily defeat 12 other Democratic candidates. On the Republican ballot, Nikki Haley is the only active major candidate on the ballot.

Donald Trump decided to not participate in the primary, he will participate in the Thursday’s Republican caucus. The primary doesn’t count for GOP nomination. Trump, meanwhile, is expected to pick up all 26 Republican delegates in Thursday’s caucus.

Haley’s biggest “competitor” maybe “none of these candidates.” Nevada lawmakers added “none of these candidates” to ballots for statewide races as a way for voters to express dissatisfaction with their choices in a post- Watergate era.

None” can’t win an elected office but it came in first in primary congressional contests in 1976 and 1978. It also finished ahead of both George Bush and Edward Kennedy in Nevada’s 1980 presidential primaries.

Nevada’s 36 pledged Democratic delegates are allocated according to the national party’s standard rules. Eight at-large delegates are allocated in proportion to the statewide primary vote, as are five PLEO delegates, or “party leaders and elected officials,” according to The Associated Press. The state’s four congressional districts have a combined 23 delegates at stake, which are allocated in proportion to the vote results in each district. Candidates must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote to qualify for any statewide delegates and 15% of the vote in a congressional district to qualify for delegates in that district.

As of Jan. 1, there were about 2.3 million registered voters in Nevada. About 31% of them were Democrats, 28% Republicans and 34% independents.

The GOP caucuses are limited to registered Republicans. The deadline to register was Jan. 9. No same-day registration is permitted. Caucus-goers must present a government-issued ID.

To learn more about Thursday’s caucus, go to https://www.carsoncityrepublicans.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.