Clark County is on track to have enough poll workers this Election Day, according to Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria.
Gloria told Clark County Commissioners on Tuesday his office received more than 2,300 applications for poll workers since announcing one month ago that the county had fewer than half of the 3,100 temporary poll workers they need for vote centers this fall. The county is still looking for alternates on Election Day, which is Nov. 3, and for workers for early voting, which runs Oct. 17 through Oct. 30.
“But with the number of applications, we don’t think we’ll have concerns,” he added.
Clark County, like every county in Nevada, will send general election mail ballots (also known as absentee ballots) to every active registered voter. Voters will be able to fill out, sign and return their ballot via the postal service or by dropping it off at a designated location. However, voters still have the option of casting their ballot in-person during the two-week early voting period or on Election Day.
[For more on how to vote, visit the Current’s guide to voting in Southern Nevada.]
Exactly how many voters will opt to — or need to — vote in person is unknown.
“We are expecting to receive 40 percent, possibly 50 percent, maybe more,” said Gloria, adding that the county has expanded its internal staff and its cadre of temporary workers.
Gloria also told commissioners that overseas ballots are being sent this weekend and out-of-state ballots will be mailed next week. Clark County will begin sending ballots to locals on Oct. 7.
Voters can return their ballots via the postal service immediately after filling them out, but they must be postmarked on or before Election Day in order to be counted.
Gloria said the elections office has hired additional staff and is prepared to move to 24-hour ballot counting in order to handle any surges of ballots arriving all at once.
Gloria said the county is committed to finalizing its election results — a process known as canvassing — on time, which is 13 days after the election.
“We’ve never not done so,” he said of meeting the state deadline. “We won’t start with this election.”
Gloria is hosting a “Virtual Town Hall” on at 6 p.m. on Sept. 17 to provide information and answer questions about the upcoming general election. The event will be live streamed on the Clark County’s Facebook, YouTube and website ClarkCountyNV.gov.
