Biden wins Nevada, keeping battleground in Democrats’ column
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Joe Biden has won Nevada, continuing a 16-year trend of Democrats picking up the Western battleground state.
His victory four days after Election Day gives him Nevada’s six Electoral College votes and denies President Donald Trump a state he hoped to pick up this year after a narrow loss in 2016.
The country had focused on Nevada as it tabulated results, especially in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and three-quarters of the state’s population.
County election officials said they were focusing on accuracy over speed and that the large number of mail-in ballots was new and making the counting process take longer than normal.
The state mailed ballots to all active registered voters this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, a move the Trump campaign had challenged.
Biden came out of election night with a slim lead that grew later as more ballots were counted.
As the former vice president closed in on the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the White House, attention turned to Nevada and what felt like a painstakingly slow count of mail-in ballots.
Other states with close contests also were tabulating votes after Election Day.
Unlike some counties where election workers counted ballots round the clock and new tallies trickled in every few hours, Nevada was providing once-a-day updates until Friday, when it switched to twice a day.
Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria said his employees worked shifts from 5 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., counting and verifying mail-in ballots in planned stages. He pushed back against rushing the process.
Total turnout in Nevada has not yet been released, but it’s already higher than 2016. The number of ballots cast by mail and in person before Election Day had surpassed total turnout in 2016.
Mail ballots...