'The worst I've heard': Why some Nevada voters waited five hours to vote — and what comes next

It was so cold on election night that Breanna Lareese Butler's feet started getting numb.

The 36-year-old ended her shift working at United Healthcare and came straight to a polling site at Brinley Middle School in Las Vegas, only to find out she would have to wait three hours to cast her vote. 

Butler was among the hundreds of people who waited hours to cast their ballots in Nevada's elections last week. Brinley Middle School, the last location open statewide, saw its final ballot cast just before midnight, five hours after polls closed.

"It had to be done in order for us to vote and have our voices heard," said Butler, a mother of three and full-time online student.

When all was said and done, the final vote was cast in Nevada more than two hours later than any of the past six general elections, a Nevada Independent analysis found.

The unprecedented delay led to concern from the state's top election official and mixed messaging from Clark County officials. It also raised questions about why results took so long to report, even though turnout was on par with recent elections and the state has made it easy to vote early or through the mail.

It appears there were several factors in play: a long ballot in Clark County that took in-person voters time and research to complete, a lack of knowledge about poll site availability and Clark County officials being caught off guard for when and where voters would choose to vote.

Nevada gets particular attention because it prohibits the release of election results until the final person in line when polls close at 7 p.m. has voted. Only a few other states have similar laws, including Hawaii, South Dakota and Maryland. It all resulted in Nevada being the final state to release its initial election results this year, even after states such as Hawaii and Alaska. 

Clark County Registrar Lorena Portillo, who runs the county's elections, said on election night that voter "excitement" led to the delays — though turnout was less than in prior elections — while downplaying any issues. The next day, she called the lines "unfortunate." At the county's canvass of the results Friday, her tone shifted again, calling the waits "unacceptable."

"We listen all day at our polling sites and did not hear concerns about voters about long lines," she said at a press conference the day after Election Day. "It's not unusual to have lines on Election Day." 

The county did not make Portillo available for an interview for this story.

"This is the longest wait time I've heard of this cycle," said Trey Hood, a political science professor at the University of Georgia who focuses on election science.

Ted Allen, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a former election official, has done research indicating people waiting in lines to vote will leave at a rate of 2 percent to 4 percent per hour, resulting in fewer votes in places that are either not properly resourced or might have long lines based on the length of the ballot. 

"Effectively a lot of people did give up and were disenfranchised and that's not good," Allen said.

Briseyda Jaimes, 21, was almost one of those people. She had to leave the Las Vegas City Hall polling site around 1 p.m. with her 14-month old daughter after waiting for more than an hour. 

"I wasn't expecting this," Jaimes told The Nevada Independent, signaling the line which she was halfway through and saying she had to leave to care for her daughter. "She's getting fussy, it's her naptime." 

However, Jaimes said she was determined to return and vote later in the day, which she did, according to voting records. 

"We come from immigrants, so we're gonna vote for the people who couldn't vote," Jaimes said. "I want to put the example for my daughter." 

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) said he wants to look more into the state law prohibiting release of election results until everyone in line has voted, especially since national attention will again turn toward Nevada during the state's early Democratic presidential primary in 2028.

"We have to weigh what is the benefit of disenfranchising a voter versus having information out to the public," he said in an interview. "It's a policy discussion and a conversation that needs to be had."

Mixed messages

After the final ballot had been cast on election night, Portillo said in a press conference that "there were no issues." She also highlighted that Clark County voters had a particularly long ballot this year because all 58 contests for district court judge were included, which only happens every six years.

However, Clark County has had a very long ballot before. In 2020, the last time all district court judges were on the ballot, results still came hours earlier than this year's, though there was less turnout that year because of the pandemic.

Allen, the University of Massachusetts professor, said that the long ballots are often not considered an effect in voting behavior, but they can often cause issues.

"The places with the longest ballots usually have lower turnout than you expect," Allen said. "For election systems, you should time it in advance, and then allocate resources so places with longer ballots should have more resources." 

Portillo also said high turnout was a factor for the wait times, but the data does not indicate that was a strong factor. Election Day participation in Clark County was lower this year than in the 2024 general election and only slightly above the most recent midterm, which also saw fewer polling sites available. Usually, experts say lines at polling locations are at their worst during the morning and evening.

Portillo added in her press conference the day after Election Day that the number of voting machines "was sufficient" based on past turnout. However, at a new site such as Brinley Middle School, the county has less information about the number of voters who want to participate there.

"They do like that site, and we will be adjusting accordingly," Portillo told reporters.

Jennifer Cooper, a Clark County spokesperson, added in a statement that the county cannot add voting machines "if additional power sources are unavailable."

What comes next

County and state officials appear open to working together to alleviate the long lines.

"[Clark County] will work to ensure that all available solutions to reduce the length of time it may take a voter to cast an in-person vote are explored, including seeking more community partnerships for new voting sites and forecasting potential voter volume," Cooper's statement read.

At Friday's canvass of the votes, Portillo said the county is also looking at adding larger tent sites and more resources for existing locations.

Aguilar added that, "We have to collectively work together to figure out what those challenges were, why they existed and then figure out a solution to moving forward again." He added that the state should look at the funding it provides county election offices.

"Making decisions off of data is critical," he said.

As far as specifics, Aguilar said it comes down in large part to the lawmakers who are chairing the legislative committees that govern election policy, which remains unknown, as well as the priorities of Gov.-elect Aaron Ford (D).

"I think we can address it," he said.

Updated on 11/13/26 at 2:15 p.m. to add comments from Portillo during the county's canvass of the vote.