Official: Early voting sites to stay open on Nevada Day

CARSON CITY -- Secretary of State Ross Miller said Wednesday that early voting locations must stay open on Oct. 31, the Nevada Day holiday.

In a letter and accompanying legal interpretation sent to eight Nevada counties, Miller pointed out that Oct. 31 is the last day of early voting and traditionally experiences the highest turnout of any of the early voting days.

The letter was sent to county commissioners in Churchill, Esmerelda, Eureka, Lincoln, Lyon, Mineral, Nye and Pershing counties.

Counties that do not open voting locations on the holiday will be in violation of state law, Miller said.

Nevada Day is a state holiday with state and local offices and schools normally closed for business.

The actual Election Day is Nov. 4.

Early voting begins Oct. 18.

Miller's response to the counties was prompted by concerns in some counties regarding the added expense of keeping the polls open on a holiday.

"I can understand their concern," Miller said. "But we immediately addressed that issue by making available to the counties funds from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to cover the added expense. The HAVA funds are provided to increase accessibility to the polls, so money should not be an issue for any of the counties. Beyond that, I don't know of any good reason to not allow people to vote.

"I'd like to believe that every county commissioner and registrar, knowing the importance of this election and the expected turnout, will work with us to resolve this quickly and get the polls opened," Miller said.