Las Vegas Valley sees long lines on final day of early voting — PHOTOS
Friday was last day of early voting in Nevada. The lines were very long, and some voting hours were extended.
Over the course of nearly two weeks of early voting, plus people casting their votes via mail, more than 945,000 Nevadans, or 46.5 percent of registered voters, have voted.
Of those 945,000, 320,500 were Democrats, 365,000 were Republicans, and 260,000 were either from another party or nonpartisan.
After Friday, eligible voters can still vote by mail or by voting on Election Day.
At 7:30 p.m Friday, several polling locations across the valley had projected line wait times exceeding 50 minutes. At the Galleria Mall in Henderson, people expected to wait for an hour and 40 minutes. By 8:30 p.m., the projected wait grew to two hours.
Kendra Pfaltzgraf, 24, said she waited in line at the Galleria Mall for nearly three hours.
“I figured that the lines would be even worse on Election Day,” said Pfaltzgraf, who is a law student at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. “But I like voting in person. It is nice to see so many people excited about democracy.”
Liliana Benzor also voted at the Galleria. She brought her son, his girlfriend, and her two daughters. The family played “Heads Up,” a mobile charades game while they stood in line.
Benzor’s son, Leno Gutierrez, 19, said he was initially apprehensive about voting. He laughed when he called the process “an experience.”
“I told him, if I’m going to bring your girlfriend to vote, you’re coming too,” Benzor said.
Benzor said they tried to vote earlier in the day, but wait times were long then, and her daughter had a soccer game.
“Sure, I was hoping that the line would be shorter now. … But hey, it’s Friday,” Benzor said. “Why not just get it done?”
According to county voting websites, early voting at the Galleria was to end at 8 p.m. However the polling deadline was extended to 9 p.m. to match the mall closing time.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X. Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.