Early voting isn’t scheduled to begin for another 25 days, but the first votes in Nevada’s 2024 election cycle have started to roll in through the state’s digital absentee voting system.
As of Monday, in a historic first, two ballots have been cast via the digital application by Native American voters living on a reservation or colony.
The secretary of state’s office kicked off the online voting option for this election cycle Saturday at the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s 93rd annual Pinenut Festival. The launch and digital voting option are part of an effort to increase voter turnout among the state’s Native American communities.
Members of Nevada’s 28 Indigenous nations, bands and colonies have faced long-standing historical and geographic obstacles to casting a ballot, including long journeys to polling locations or ballot drop boxes, lack of voter registration opportunities and unreliable mail services.
“For much of United States history, Native Americans have faced countless barriers to citizenship and basic voting access. Some of those barriers can be internet connectivity or distance to polling locations,” Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said in remarks at the launch. “Our office is dedicated to working with tribes to find creative solutions and improve the access to vote.”