Emily Patterson is a sophomore honors student studying psychology and criminology with minors in history and legal studies. Originally from Fort Smith, Arkansas, Emily is involved with the Volunteer Action Center and is a member of Kappa Delta. After graduation, Emily hopes to pursue a career in forensic or research psychology.
With only days left until the election, it is evident that Nevada will be an important swing state in deciding the next President of the United States. The Democrats are counting on Nevada’s six electoral votes in order to make it to the coveted 270 required to win the election. While Biden is currently on track to take the Silver State, the polls are still close enough that this will definitely be a battleground state to watch as the results roll in on Tuesday.
Historically, Nevada has been known to volley back and forth between Democrats and Republicans, but in recent elections one can see a definite blue trend. Nevadans voted for the Democratic candidate in the last three Presidential elections, supporting Clinton in 2016 and Obama in both his terms. This may be due to rapid growth in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno gaining the Silver State three new electoral college votes since 1984. Nevada also has a current majority of Democratic leaders, including the governor, both senators, and three out of their four members of the House of Representatives.
According to the United States Census Bureau, while Nevada is mostly white demographically, nearly 30% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino/a. This could prove problematic for President Trump, given his reputation among the Hispanic and Latino/a communities. By far the most votes cast in Nevada are between Clark and Washoe Counties, which contain the cities of Las Vegas and Reno respectively. In fact, these counties were the only two in the state that voted blue in 2016, and the Democrats still won the state. This might indicate that the decision in Nevada could come down to the wire depending largely on how many native Las Vegas and Reno residents make it to the polls in the coming days.
A big issue in this election for Nevadans has been the method of voting. Due to concerns regarding COVID-19, Nevada approved a plan to send an absentee ballot to every registered voter in the state, which they could either use, or bring with them to the physical polls to return unused. This has been a point of contention with President Trump, who has repeatedly alleged the unreliability of mail-in ballots and claimed they are a recipe for voter fraud. At a recent rally on the Nevada/Arizona border, he asserted that the voting system in Nevada should raise doubts among its residents as to whether their votes will be counted fairly. The concern is so high that the Secretary of State’s office published a list of Facts vs. Myths regarding the election process. It will be worth watching to see how this effects the ballot counts.
Lastly, Nevada is one of the states being hit hardest by the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases. President Trump’s repeated attempts to downplay the effects of the virus may come back to haunt him as cases continue to rise rapidly in the last few days leading up to the election. Considering President Trump has recently pulled TV ads off the air in Nevada and other key states, one can reasonably conclude he no longer considers further Nevadan votes worth pursuing.
Prediction: All things considered; Biden is likely to win the Silver State’s six electoral votes. Either way, this will be a bellwether state worth keeping an eye out for on November 3.