In a first, nearly 50 ballots cast at Clark County’s jail

The jail’s voting location — its first ever — welcomed 47 participants Tuesday as part of a new law requiring jails to develop a process for inmates to vote while in custody.

Metropolitan Police Department Corrections Captain Scott Zavsza said the department worked closely with the Clark County Elections Department to make sure the process went smoothly.

“I think we had a very successful event here at the Clark County Detention Center in conjunction with the Clark County Elections Department,” Zavsza said. “We’re very pleased.”

Some staff members used the voting booths at the detention center, but the majority of those voters were inmates, Zavsza said.

The new voting location was not open to the public, so observers were not allowed at the polling place, according to the county.

During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill requiring city and county jail administrators to develop a procedure allowing qualified inmates to vote while in jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada announced in late May that seven jails across the state, including the detention centers in Clark County, North Las Vegas and Henderson, had come into compliance with the law.

The organization previously told lawmakers that it would begin filing lawsuits against jails that did not come into full compliance with the law.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on X.