Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020 | 10 p.m.
The slow-moving voting line on this unusually warm autumn Election Day bothered World War II veteran George Paul.
“I’m pissed off about it. At my old age, I don’t appreciate standing out in the sun for an hour just to get to the door, and God knows how long I’ll have to wait there,” Paul said outside the Sun City MacDonald Ranch polling station in Henderson.
There was more on his mind. Paul, 95, didn’t say who he was voting for, but offered his assessment.
On the candidates: “They’re all bad.”
And on the state of politics: “The election has become a carnival of sorts, and I don’t particularly care for that,” he said. “I argued with myself whether I wanted to vote, because there are no real choices there.”
Yet there he was participating in the uniquely American experience of fulfilling his civic duty by voting on Election Day. A poll worker soon walked outside and offered to escort the elderly man to the front of the line.
Paul was one of thousands of Nevadans who cast ballots Tuesday, in a year when politics are increasingly divisive, shrouded by a global pandemic that has battered the country with illness, death, unemployment and uncertainty.
That uncertainty helped drive record turnout. More than 1.1 million Nevadans, or 61% of the total registered voters, had cast a ballot through the mail or during early voting entering Tuesday.
For the most part, lines moved smoothly with short wait times throughout the day, although the early morning was chaotic at some sites. The Nevada Secretary of State’s office said a few locations in Clark County had technical problems that caused some early delays.
We had reporters stationed in all corners of Clark County to talk with voters. Here’s what they had to say:
Maria Prentice and Sandra Carrillo
Maria Prentice and Sandra Carrillo belong to the “DREAMer Moms,” a group that supports immigrant recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). On Tuesday morning, they set up a booth outside Roy Martin Middle School, offering pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread) and coffee to voters.
Prentice, a native of Guadalajara, Mexico, has lived in the United States for more than 50 years, but only decided to become a citizen some 20 years ago.
She said that as a spectator of American politics, she often felt powerless and frustrated with elected officials. “I’m sitting on my bottom, and I have not become a citizen. What am I complaining about?”
Prentice, 65, has always been civic-minded, always volunteering, including when she taught immigrants how to become American citizens.
Although she wasn’t a teacher, the immigrants would call her one. And when they came to her, excited to have passed the tests, she would ask them for three favors: learn English, vote and help another person become a citizen, she said.
She’s supporting Biden, but says she holds no ill-will for President Donald Trump, whom she often prays for.
Four years after becoming a U.S. citizen, Carrillo had just voted in her first presidential election: Biden also being her choice.
She said she came to the U.S. almost 30 years ago, when it was easier for families to immigrate here legally. After living so long in her “adoptive country,” she said she felt it was her duty to vote.
The “DREAMer Moms” arrived at the school before 7 a.m. and wanted to be there until the last vote was cast, but Clark County School District Police officers told them in the early afternoon that they had to move.
—Ricardo Torres-Cortez
Grace Lusk
Wearing a black T-shirt with the words “ELECTION PROTECTION” emblazoned in bold across her chest, volunteer poll observer and off-duty Spiegelworld (“Absinthe & Opium”) performer Grace Lusk arrived for duty at the Boulevard mall polling location after lunch. The comedian had voted early at that same spot, but felt she needed to do more to help.
“I didn’t want to be inside, just watching the numbers come in,” Lusk said. “I have a couple of friends who were posting about ways to get involved on Election Day. And this felt like the right choice. I like that it’s nonpartisan.”
Lusk said her job as a volunteer for Election Protection, which is affiliated with the ACLU of Southern Nevada, is to help protect people’s right to vote. Her role involves everything from giving out needed information, helping newcomers register to vote, and even passing out food and water.
The Boulevard mall polling location was in the middle of a parking lot with little to no shade for voters who were waiting upward of an hour. As the temperatures reached the high 80s, Lusk had sunscreen at the ready to pass out to those in need.
“It’s also just being a calming presence for people, you know, as they show up later on,” Lusk said, “ensuring them that they will be able to vote at this location.”
—C. Moon Reed
Joe Kramer
Trump supporter Joe Kramer was even more motivated to cast his vote after waking up Tuesday morning to realize his Trump campaign flag and signs were stolen from his home for the fourth time this election cycle, he said.
The real estate broker and property manager said he hoped Trump would win, but there would be no hard feelings if Biden did.
“Hopefully it comes back our win, but the way that I am, and in my family, we support the president of the United States. Period,” said Kramer, 41.
He said he was tired of politicians who “sweet talk” their way into office. “I don’t need to be sweet talked. I don’t need to be coddled. Tell me exactly how it is. ... I vote for results; I don’t vote for talk.”
—Ricardo Torres-Cortez
Nicole Hunter
UNLV computer science and engineering student Nicole Hunter turned 18 six months ago, and was thrilled to be old enough to vote in such a pivotal election. She described the feeling as “liberating.”
“I talked to my mom about it. I did a bunch of research; did my sample ballot,” Hunter said. “I went in there and I was like, ‘I know what I want. I know what change I want. I know who I want in office. Let’s see if I could make this happen.’ ”
Health issues kept Hunter from voting early, and she waited about two hours to vote at the Boulevard mall polling location on Election Day. “Lines are long — I wasn’t expecting that,” Hunter said of her first voting experience. “But I mean, it’s worth it. If I get to do at least one thing to make a change, I’m all here for it.”
As for the changes Hunter would like to see: “Honestly, if racism could go away, that’d be great. If (the) gender gap and just the degrading of women could go away, that’d be great. So I did my best to see what can happen and possibly see a change, hopefully. But you know, we don’t know.”
Hunter said she “will shout from the rooftops” that she voted for Biden. “I voted for someone who has almost the same morals as me.”
—C. Moon Reed
Jennifer Salinas
Jennifer Salinas, 34, was in line at Howard Lieburn Senior Center at around 7:30 a.m. with her 7-year-old son, John Salinas. She also brought him when she voted in the 2016 election.
“We need to teach our young to vote, especially the young women. We fought for decades to be in the position we are in today,” Salinas said, as an observer placed an “I voted” sticker on her son’s jacket.
Salinas voted for Biden because she was opposed to Trump’s harsh immigration policies.
“We still have kids locked up in cages. It makes me sick. This is America. It’s not supposed to be run this way,” she said.
Salinas was a tutor for low-income schools before they were shut down in March. She said she comes from a family of Republicans and has always been the black sheep.
—Sara MacNeil
Avery Neal
Resident physician in pediatrics Avery Neal zipped over from Sunrise Children’s Hospital to drop off his absentee ballot at the Boulevard mall. “It’s considered a right, but really, I feel like any adult should be almost required to vote,” said Neal, who has voted every year since he was able to in 2008. “It’s so important for shaping our policies, how our government is going to be shaped going forward and to really just put your say into what actually happens.”
The medical doctor — still wearing scrubs and a whimsical, kid-friendly face mask — said it took “maybe 30 seconds” to cast his ballot. He thinks Nevada’s new COVID-safety policy of sending all registered voters an absentee ballot is “a wonderful thing.” He said any effort to stop or hinder legal voting is “an abomination.”
“We should be putting out more effort to make sure that our elections are secure, but also accessible for every person,” Neal said.
Neal did not share who he voted for, but said he’d like the country to return to a norm where leaders take responsibility rather than passing blame. “A true leader has to say, ‘It ends with me,’ ” Neal said. “If you’re willing to take responsibility for what’s good, you’ve also got to take responsibility for what didn’t work and try to fix it.”
—C. Moon Reed
Kristele Jurado
Kristele Jurado of Henderson voted for Barack Obama for president eight years ago.
After sitting out the 2016 election, she had a change of heart in this election cycle and voted for Trump.
“My parents have always been Democrats, my entire family, really,” Jurado said after voting at Sun City Anthem Community Center in Henderson. “I feel like I have more money in my pocket these past four years than I did during the eight years of Obama. I also don’t think the Democrats have handled this pandemic correct at all.”
A self-described former “stickler” for Obama, Jurado, 33, said she’s paid closer attention to various issues during the Trump years.
“I’m sticking with the guy who’s had a plan,” she said. “You have to be willing to realize that your views were wrong to begin with. We change as human beings.”
—Bryan Horwath
Josh Wrye
Josh Wrye waited in line for about an hour before voting at the Sun City Anthem Community Center, though he said he would have waited “all day” for the opportunity to vote for Trump.
Wrye, 42, of Henderson, is a transplant from Southern California. He moved here because his “freedoms” are important and because he doesn’t agree with much of what goes on in California’s political arena.
“I do think Donald Trump is a bit of a lunatic at times, but I think he’s done a good job with the economy,” Wrye said. “Somebody’s temperament doesn’t mean they can’t make good decisions. I think Trump’s the choice to get us out of this pandemic and to get people working again.”
Wrye expects that conservative-thinking former Californians will have a bigger influence on Nevada elections in the future.
“In California, there’s too much government control and it’s too expensive to live,” Wrye said. “It seems more open here in Nevada with no state income tax and different laws on gun rights. Nevada kind of lets people do what they want, and a lot of people are moving here from California for the reasons I did.”
—Bryan Horwath
Jonaee Coffey
Just before noon at Coronado High School in Henderson, Jonaee Coffey walked out of the school’s gymnasium with her 3-year-old son, Tyler.
All Tyler was interested in was a trip to a nearby park, though his mother had bigger issues on her mind.
Coffey, 35, had just voted for Biden in the presidential election.
“I don’t agree with everything the Biden/Harris ticket has said, but I don’t think Donald Trump has the leadership skills to lead our country,” Coffey said. “I don’t think he has the moral compass for the job either. I’m a small-business owner and a lot of people would say to vote for Trump because he’s better for business, but I don’t agree with that.”
Trump “doesn’t stand for what I stand for,” Coffey added.
—Bryan Horwath
Lorena Terry
Originally from Italy, Lorena Terry registered to vote last year when she became a U.S. citizen.However, she was planning to skip her first chance to vote because she wasn’t a fan of either presidential candidate. “I don’t really like so much Biden,” Terry said. “Definitely, I do not like Trump.”
But then she became inspired by the images of people, especially the elderly, willing to wait in long lines to vote. So Terry decided to stop at the Boulevard mall on the way to the gym. She planned to vote for Biden.
After seeing that it’d be a 90-minute wait, Terry decided to go to the gym first and return to the polls after her workout: “When I come back I’m going to see how the line is.”
— C. Moon Reed
