Confused about the primary vs. caucus?
For the first time in more than four decades, Nevada will hold presidential primaries — rather than caucuses — on Feb. 6, 2024.
The transition comes after a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Gov. Steve Sisolak approved a 2021 law requiring that a presidential preference privmary election be held for each major political party on the first Tuesday in February of a presidential election year.
But for Republican Party voters, the results from the primary won’t have any effect on apportioning the state’s presidential nominating delegates. The Nevada GOP plans to run a traditional caucus two days later on Feb. 8, to allocate the state’s delegates, and will not use the results from the primary election.
The party’s decision to hold a caucus has split candidates. Former President Donald Trump is running in the caucus, alongside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley opted to run in the primary — the only major candidate still in the race to do so.
The new system is in part meant to increase participation in the partisan presidential nominating process, as the coming primary elections will see mail ballots sent to every voter registered with a major party — a stark contrast to the caucus system, that typically involves voters meeting in person and gathering in groups to openly cast votes for their preferred candidate through a complex delegate allocation plan.
In 2020, Nevada was one of three states to still use the caucus system.
On this year’s Democratic nominating calendar, Nevada falls third, after South Carolina on Feb. 3 and New Hampshire on Jan. 23 — though President Joe Biden is skipping the New Hampshire contest over a dispute about the state nominating order, with Biden pushing the Democratic National Committee to place South Carolina first.
With the caucus scheduled for Feb. 8, Nevada is still set to serve as an early state in the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) nomination process — behind traditional frontrunners Iowa and New Hampshire, but jumping ahead of South Carolina.
The Nevada GOP has been strongly opposed to the primary. In May 2023, the party filed a lawsuit to block the state from holding a presidential primary election (a case still being litigated). In September, the party approved rules for its caucus that prevent primary candidates from winning delegates.
Unlike the caucus, Nevada’s presidential primaries will be run by state and local election officials using the same voting processes used in other elections — including secret ballots, mail voting and an early voting period.
Read below for more details on Nevada’s new presidential preference primary system and the Republican caucus.
The Republican primary field includes Haley and several obscure candidates. The ballot also includes two major candidates who have suspended their presidential campaigns after the state’s deadline to withdraw from the ballot — former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
Both primaries will also include an option of “none of these candidates” — a ballot option unique to Nevada that allows voters to participate without supporting a specific candidate.
To qualify for the ballot, a candidate must meet the constitutional requirements — be a natural-born citizen of the U.S., be at least 35 years old and have been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years — and any rules of the major political party.
The elections are also strictly limited to the selection of presidential nominees. Nevada’s other primary elections for offices such as U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and local office will be held in June.
How can a voter participate in the primaries and/or caucus?
Nearly all of the more than 1.1 million voters registered as Democrats or Republicans will be mailed ballots in the weeks leading up to Feb. 6, oanly barring those few thousand who submitted a request to opt out of mail voting.
Voters can return their ballot via mail or by dropping them in a ballot drop box. Ballots received by 5 p.m. on Feb. 10 (four days after the election) and postmarked by Election Day will be counted.
Voters can also cast their ballots in person during early voting (Jan. 27 to Feb. 2) or on Election Day (Feb. 6). In-person voting locations will be posted here.
Certain tribal, military and overseas voters and Nevadans with disabilities can cast their ballot using the state’s Effective Absentee System For Elections (EASE), an online voting application that launched Dec. 23.
Republican voters can participate in both the primary and caucus, with voting for the caucus limited to in-person caucus locations starting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 8. Caucus locations can be found here.
During the caucus, participants will be able to vote on a secret ballot and leave or can stay and participate in caucus meetings to select county convention delegates, a process set to begin around 6 p.m.
Who can vote in the presidential primaries?
The presidential primary elections are considered closed primaries and are limited to major party voters (either Democrat or Republican), meaning those registered as nonpartisan or with a minor party are not eligible to vote in these elections.
But same-day voter registration is in effect during the presidential primaries, which means someone who is otherwise eligible to vote can register with one of the major parties during the early voting period or on Election Day and vote in the Democratic or Republican primary.
That includes nonpartisan voters, minor party voters and major party voters who are able to re-register as a Democrat or Republican on the day they vote.
For the GOP caucus, only voters registered as Republicans will be able to participate. Voters must register as a Republican by Jan. 8 to participate, according to the party. The party also plans to require voters to show a government-issued ID to participate — a requirement that is not in place in government-run elections in Nevada.
Who will be on the ballot in the presidential primaries?
The Republican caucus field includes Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and pastor Ryan Binkley.
The Democratic primary field includes Biden, self-help author Marianne Williamson and nearly a dozen other long-shot candidates.
How can a voter participate in the primaries and/or caucus?
Nearly all of the more than 1.1 million voters registered as Democrats or Republicans will be mailed ballots in the weeks leading up to Feb. 6, only barring those few thousand who submitted a request to opt out of mail voting.
Voters can return their ballot via mail or by dropping them in a ballot drop box. Ballots received by 5 p.m. on Feb. 10 (four days after the election) and postmarked by Election Day will be counted.
Voters can also cast their ballots in person during early voting (Jan. 27 to Feb. 2) or on Election Day (Feb. 6). In-person voting locations will be posted here.
Certain tribal, military and overseas voters and Nevadans with disabilities can cast their ballot using the state’s Effective Absentee System For Elections (EASE), an online voting application that launched Dec. 23.
Republican voters can participate in both the primary and caucus, with voting for the caucus limited to in-person caucus locations starting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 8.
During the caucus, participants will be able to vote on a secret ballot and leave or can stay and participate in caucus meetings to select county convention delegates, a process set to begin around 6 p.m.
What will the results of the primaries mean?
The purpose of a party’s presidential preference primary is to award a state’s presidential delegates. Based on the votes a candidate receives, they are assigned a certain number of state delegates who will vote for them at their party’s national convention.
At the Republican National Convention, Nevada will have 26 delegates, about 1 percent of the estimated 2,467 Republican delegates. At the Democratic National Convention, the state will have 48, representing more than 1 percent of the estimated 4,514 delegates.
Still, the results of the primaries are not technically binding. The Nevada GOP plans to allocate delegates based on the results of the caucus, while Nevada Democrats plan to base the allocation on the results of the primary.
The candidate who receives the most delegate votes at their party’s national convention will be the party’s nominee on the November general election ballot. That also means the top choice of Nevada Republican or Democratic voters may not be the nominee if more delegates from other states support a different candidate.
Despite having a small fraction of delegates, Nevada holds more weight as a state that falls early in the nominating order, meaning that it draws greater attention from voters and candidates as the field takes shape.
The Republican Party’s national convention will be held in July 2024, and the Democratic Party’s convention is set for August 2024.
How will the presidential primaries be run?
The presidential primaries will function just like other elections in Nevada. All voters registered as Democrats or Republicans will be mailed a ballot, unless they’ve opted out of receiving a mail ballot.
Local election officials must mail ballots to every registered voter eligible to participate in the primary by Jan. 17, 2024. In-person voting will take place during the early voting period (Jan. 27 to Feb. 2) and on Election Day (Feb. 6), and voters will be allowed to cast their ballots at any polling location in their county.
Same-day registration services for new and existing voters (including a change in party affiliation) will be available during the early voting period and on Election Day.
Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day will be counted as long as they are received by four days following the election, Feb. 10 at 5 p.m.
The deadline for county commissions to canvass and certify the vote is Feb. 16.
How will the GOP presidential caucus be run?
The party-run nominating event will occur at 5 p.m. on Feb. 8 with Republican voters limited to participating in person.
There will be no early or mail voting, though absentee ballots will be available strictly for “active duty military members and their dependents,” according to the party.
Voters will be required to show a government-issued ID to participate, and voting will take place on paper ballots. Caucus-goers will also be able to view the tabulation of the ballots at each precinct location.