Published Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020 | 4:32 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020 | 7:26 p.m.
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If Jeffrey Brooks had his way, he would vote from the comfort of his couch. Caucuses aren’t the California retiree’s style.
Brooks was one of the many Nevada Democrats who early voted today in the presidential caucus, where voters filled out a ranked-choice ballot of up to five candidates rather than participate in the traditional in-person caucus Feb. 22.
For Brooks, taking advantage of the four-day early voting window was the best way to avoid the crowds on caucus day. About 11,800 Nevada Democrats voted on the first day, the party announced.
“I don’t like that interaction,” Brooks said. “I’d prefer to be at home voting.”
This is the first time the process has included an early voting option, which was touted by state Democrats as a method to increase accessibility to voters who may not be able to participate in lengthy, time-consuming caucuses. The choices during early voting will be added to their precinct’s results on caucus day.
Voter reaction at The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, a designated voting site, was mostly positive, although some criticized the time it took to get through the line. Reports at other Las Vegas area sites were similar — despite long lines and waits of more than one hour, it was mostly a smooth ordeal.
Voter rolls at check-in were preloaded onto tablets by the state party. Voters used a paper ballot to rank the candidates, a switch made by party officials after the calculating problems in the Iowa caucus. Nevada intended to use the same app for recording votes as Iowa.
The Center attracted at least one particularly high-profile Democrat: Gov. Steve Sisolak. Sisolak and his wife each voted at the Center, but the governor, who has made it a point to decline endorsing any candidates, kept his picks a secret.
“I wanted to encourage people to get out early and caucus, cast their preferences, which I think is extremely important” he said. “It’s easier. We’ve tried to make it as easy, as convenient, as accessible as we possibly could. You can go to any of the locations (in your county) and caucus, which I think is really important. I wanted to encourage everybody and really I’m here to show them how easy it is.”
Sisolak said party staff and volunteers who organized the caucuses “are working so hard. They’re doing everything they possibly can to provide people the assurances and the confidence that this is going to work out.”
Some voters said they voted early to get the process out of the way. Others said they wanted to avoid interactions — and potential conflict — with others during the caucus next week.
“I’m really pleased to see the turnout. I’m glad I got here early,” voter Stacy Cox said. “I’m happy to see such active participation. It was pretty seamless.”
James Petzing, the third voter in line this morning at the Center, was critical of the slowed check-in. He said the voter roll used to check people in had no search bar function to help parse through the list of voters.
While he did criticize the process, he praised the volunteers for making the best of what he called a bad situation. “They are doing the best they can with the really poor process they’ve been given,” Petzing said.
Party officials this afternoon said they were happy with the process, spokeswoman Molly Forgey said.
“We’re happy to see the number of energized Democrats participating in this historic early vote period,” Forgey wrote in a text message.
Voters at The Center seemed to be supporting a variety of candidates.
Brooks, a moderate, was throwing his support behind (in order) former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, businessman Tom Steyer and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cox went with, in order, Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Petzing said his choices were, in order, Buttigieg, Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Warren, Sanders and Steyer.
The ultimate results, though, won’t be known for another week. Early voting results will not be made public until caucus day, when precinct chairs will use the party’s recently announced calculator tool to add the totals of early voting and caucus day results. Campaigns will receive information on who voted, but not on how they voted.