12:26 a.m.: Trump supporters stay out late at Las Vegas party, hoping to see Republican victory

It's early November, but the scene in this ballroom at the South Point in Las Vegas could be mistaken for the Fourth of July. Voters decked out in red, white, and blue loaded up their hotdogs with mustard and relish before sitting down to eagerly wait for results to be announced. 

The watch party had all the trappings, and all the spirit, of a victory party, with balloons, custom Republican-themed Pink Box donuts, and excited supporters proudly showing off their Trump merchandise. They cheered whenever Fox News called a state for Trump.

One voter, dressed in a blue wig and a star-spangled dress, says that donning her patriotic gear helps her express her pride in her party and beliefs in a state where she says she otherwise feels like she has to hide the fact that she's a Republican.

Jan Moody sat front-and-center in her Trump shirt and Trump visor, holding a small plate with an "I Voted" donut on it. Moody says her prayer group has spent the last month praying for a Trump victory.

When asked if everyone in her 35-person prayer group is a Republican, she says they are now.

"They've converted," she said with a laugh.

Moody isn't the only voter who's turned to religion to try and help earn Trump another four years. Laura Nowlan says that "finding Christ" was vital in her becoming a Republican and Trump proponent after being raised a Democrat, and Josephine Harrison says she's been praying for his re-election.

"I know he's a good man, compared to other people and other issues that they have," Harrison said. "Trump is a good person."

— Kristyn Leonard

 10:12 p.m.: Final voters in state waited because of work and school; some helped by court-ordered extension 

As the clock neared 7 p.m., marking the cutoff for when voters could cast their ballots, three university students from California handed out snacks to those waiting in line at Washoe County's Registrar of Voters Office.

Sam Bauer, one of the three students, came east to Nevada to help get out the vote as Election Day approached and then decided to hand out granola bars and bags of trail mix to keep up voters' morale in a state that's more swingy than his own.

"This is the most important election of my life," Bauer said. "I feel like I've gotta do something about it."

One of those end-of-day voters was Tiffany Rodriguez, 22, who came to the polls around 6:30 p.m. after her class because she prefers the experience of voting in person. Rodriguez said she was most worried about women losing their rights and would vote for Biden who aligns more with her morals.

Another voter who arrived shortly before closing time was first-time voter Christian Quintana. The 20-year-old said a busy work schedule meant he voted at the last minute, and he wishes he had researched more about the candidates before casting his ballot.

Quintana said he worries most about political corruption and climate change, and voted mostly one party down the ballot, but did disclose which one.

In Clark County, dozens of polling sites remained open until 8 p.m. after an emergency lawsuit from the Trump campaign and Nevada Republican Party requested an hour-long extension for polling locations that had technical difficulties in the morning and, therefore, delayed openings.

At the Historic Fifth Street School in Downtown Las Vegas, a poll worker said some voters filled out their ballots during the extension. But there was no line as of 7 p.m.

Poll workers at Burkholder Middle School also reported few voters taking advantage of the extra hour. They said their biggest burst was a group of five to six voters a little after 7 p.m., and they served a few stragglers afterward. 

But the extension helped at least some. One voter hurriedly leaving the site around 7:45 p.m. to return to work told The Nevada Independent that he was only able to vote because of the extra hour.

— Tabitha Mueller and Savanna Strott

5:45 p.m.: At Nevada reservations, Election Day celebrations feature food and swag

On a warm and sunny Election Day in Elko, the smell of Indian fry bread and chili welcomed Elko Indian Colony voters into the community center where councilmember Thalia Marin was preparing to-go boxes for visitors.

Voters also walked away with "Natives vote" T-shirts and face masks, stickers and posters provided by the Nevada Native Vote Project and All Voting is Local Nevada. Most voted early but a few were heading to the nearby Elko Convention Center to cast their ballots before Election Day voting ends in a few hours.  

Elko Indian Colony Chairman Davis Gonzales and councilmember Robert Brady, who were greeting voters, estimated that 30 people had shown up to receive the free gear by early afternoon, with more expected once the work day ended. 

Among them was William Moon, 40, who voted for the first time this year. He wasn't 100 percent sold on either presidential candidate, but said the process of registering online and sending a ballot by mail was accessible that he figured he might as well.

"It was easy," he said. 

Another voter, Trevor Little, decided to vote in-person on Election Day for President Donald Trump after voting for him in 2016 as well. He said he doesn't follow politics much but hopes whoever is elected to lead the country can contribute to peace and unification. 

"I just hope we have the right decision, whoever we vote for this year, and make a great impact for us for the future," he said. "That's what we all want, for our future for our kids, for our future for us. Hopefully Trump's that way."

Councilmember Marin is a regular Democratic voter who's spent a lot of time this year trying to convince her family members to register to vote and that their vote actually counts. She said she hopes the racism and discrimination from the past four years will be snuffed out in the next four. 

"We need to become whole again, as a country," she said. "We're fighting among each other and it's like, why? We should all be coming together as a whole." 

At the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Offices, northeast of Reno, election workers and Nevada Native Vote organizers rallied voters to the polls. It's the second presidential election in which there has been a polling location on the reservation.

Keri Romo, 38, worked at the polls so that members of her community would see someone they recognized and feel more comfortable casting their ballot. 

Growing up with her great-grandparents, Romo remembers sitting down as a family, reading the instructions on yellow ballots, discussing candidates and policies, filling out the ballot and then taking the ballots into the post office. But Romo said her experience is somewhat rare among Native voters who face historical and significant obstacles to casting a ballot. 

She said she's heartened to see more outreach to the tribe, including a visit from Democratic congressional candidate Patricia Ackerman.

"It feels like they care and they know about us," Romo said. "And when those issues come across their desk or across the table, they know exactly, they know the faces, they know where they've been. And they've seen that. I think that's huge."

— Jazmin Orozco-Rodriguez and Tabitha Mueller

5:07 p.m.: Democrats make final push to knock on doors hours before polls close 

Five hours before polls close, Democrats made one last effort to get Nevadans out to the polls, rallying a group of about 40 canvassers — mostly students — before they went to knock on doors in East Las Vegas.

Democrats including Gov. Steve Sisolak, Nevada Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy, Rep. Dina Titus and Rep. Steven Horsford attempted to energize the young canvassers, many who had been knocking on doors since 6 a.m., for the final push with messages emphasizing Biden's slogan that the election is for the "soul of the nation." East Las Vegas has a high concentration of Latino voters, who are key to any election win in Nevada.

"You're not old enough to remember maybe what it felt like four years ago. Ask these folks what it felt like to get up four years ago tomorrow and to realize that Donald Trump was the president of the United States. It was not a good feeling," Sisolak said. "And it will not be a good feeling if we're not successful today, but we will be with your help and with your work."

Sisolak said the afternoon's efforts were the difference between the Democrats, who are reaching out to voters, and the Republicans, who filed an emergency appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday to limit counting of Clark County's mail ballots after a judge blocked their efforts on Monday.

"We're working on the streets, knocking on doors, making phone calls, and they're filing frivolous lawsuits," Sisolak said in an interview with The Nevada Independent. "I think it kind of speaks for themselves. Their batting average isn't too good. But we just need to keep working."

Sisolak told The Nevada Independent the efforts in the final hours of Election Day were important in ensuring every Nevadan gets their vote counted and ended his speech encouraging canvassers to "leave it all on the field!"

Democrats held their first Election Day event to mobilize canvassers at 7 a.m. with Sisolak, Las Vegas Councilwoman Olivia Diaz and the Nevada Hispanic Legislative Caucus.

Karyn Thomas, a 16-year-old canvasser, said she'd only heard about the opportunity yesterday but decided to join to get to know her community and try to motivate voters. 

"Getting Donald Trump out of the White House, there'd be a lot of changes made in the U.S. for the better," she said. "Even though I've been tired and canvassing since 6 a.m., it's gonna be worth it."

— Savanna Strott

9:50 a.m.: Clark County voters brave chill to cast ballots as soon as polls open

At 7 a.m., the doors to Desert Oasis High School opened and the first voters stepped inside, eager both to cast their votes and to get out of the cold. It was 60 degrees, but in Vegas that means people wait bundled up in coats and knit hats.

George Niumataevalu, 19, was not dressed for winter like his neighbors, instead standing outside the polling site in shorts and a cropped T-shirt — something he came to regret during his 40-minute wait.

"I woke up really early, and I didn't wear anything warm!" he lamented.

Niumataevalu, a registered Democrat, got in line at 6:25 a.m., excited to vote in his first election. He said he had been too busy in the past few weeks to vote early or find time to fill in his mail-in ballot but that the process today had been easy. He cast his vote for Joe Biden Tuesday morning, a decision he said he made because of his interest in LGBTQ issues, women's rights and the environment.

"I would say I started [being politically active], in the last four years, after Obama was out," he said.

At Burkholder Middle School in Henderson's Water Street District, the line to vote in person stretched about 150 feet outside of the voting booths even before ballots started being cast at 7 a.m. 

Rodney, 48, and Leanora Harper, 50, arrived around 6:45 a.m. and waited in line about 20 minutes before voting for Donald Trump and Republicans down the ballot, hoping to turn the state red. 

Rodney, a minister looking to open a Christian-based corporation, said that Trump is the "best man for the job" as a political outsider and businessman and was "called" by God to be president. Leanora said she's voting for Trump because of his support for police and his creation of jobs.

"You just want a president that [is] for our safety and also jobs. That's important because the more jobs that are created, the less crime," she said.

Wait times increased within the first hour of the site opening. Poll workers attributed the delays to technical issues with the check-in stations — only five of the seven stations were functioning for at least the first hour — and people doing same-day registration, a lengthier process at the check-in stations than the standard check-in procedure for voting.

The Secretary of State's Office said on Twitter than several polling locations in Clark County are "experiencing technical problems and have not yet opened."

Election officials urged patience, noting that they would "open soon."

As of 9:30 a.m., more than 16,000 people had voted today in Clark County, according to the Election Department's posing log. So far, Centennial Center appears to be the busiest polling location, with 415 voters.

— Kristyn Leonard, Savanna Strott and Jackie Valley