Washoe County officials provided an update on Friday regarding the status of vote counting for the recent primary. According to the registrar’s office, roughly 7,000 mail ballots are still awaiting processing as of early morning.
Early voting effort shows results
Communications Manager Bethany Drysdale explained that the county’s “Don’t Wait Washoe” campaign appears to have succeeded. In the previous primary, about 20,000 ballots arrived on Election Day. This cycle, voter turnout was roughly half that level, and only about 15,000 ballots were turned in on Election Day. Drysdale said the early‑voting push helped reduce the number of ballots that needed to be handled on the night of the election.
Current processing steps
Of the 7,000 pending mail ballots, approximately one hundred are undergoing signature verification. The remaining ballots are in the sorting, extraction, and scanning phases. County staff could not begin these steps until all voting centers across the state closed on election night.
“Our last vote center closed about 9:30 p.m., so we were able to count those ballots as they came in and tabulate the results,” Drysdale said. “It does take a little while, though. Some of it depends on when ballots are dropped off. We really asked voters to please get your mail ballot in early.”
Provisional ballots and deadlines
Voters who registered on Election Day received provisional ballots, which require additional identification. The deadline to provide that identification was 5 p.m. on Friday.
Looking ahead
Drysdale emphasized the county’s commitment to completing the count promptly, especially in close races that many residents are watching closely. “We are looking at just processing everything and getting everything counted,” she said. “Some of those tight races, I know a lot of people are watching, but what we’re doing is just making sure that all the ballots are processed.”
The registrar’s office has one more week to finish processing and certify the results, though officials hope to wrap up the work over the upcoming weekend.
Original reporting: 2news.com — read the source article.
