LAS VEGAS, Nevada — For thousands of attendees at a Trump rally Thursday in Las Vegas, volunteers stood ready to collect mail-in ballots on-site.
The strategy is a major shift for Nevada Republicans, who opposed the legalization of ballot harvesting in 2020. Now, conservative activists and GOP operatives are leaning into the new rules, asking voters to bring ballots to rallies and doing whatever it take to make it easy for Republicans get their votes in early.
“We don’t like early voting, but it’s how the game is,” Turning Point Action Las Vegas field representative Schayden Gorai told the Daily Caller News Foundation, explaining these are “the rules that the Democrats have set.”
Early voting numbers have been strong for Republicans, who lead Democrats by nearly 24,000 votes between in-person and mail ballots as of Friday morning. If Democrats can’t change the current margins, which have them up in mail ballots but trailing Republicans by 25% for in-person early voting, longtime Nevada political reporter and editor of The Nevada Independent Jon Ralston wrote Thursday night the party is in “big, big trouble.”
Take a deeper look at Nevada — and what it could mean for the rest of the country.
Ds aren’t showing up for @KamalaHarris. If that happens around the country, the missing red wave of 2022 could show up in 2024 as a tsunami.
These are the in-person early voting stats for 2024… https://t.co/S5gf6hYUzb pic.twitter.com/tQfR19c2oE
— Victor Joecks (@VictorJoecks) October 25, 2024
Former President Donald Trump — and others who spoke at the Turning Point sponsored rally Thursday, including Vivek Ramaswamy, Charlie Kirk and Tulsi Gabbard — urged supporters in the crowd to get out early and bring others along.
Prior to the rally, a text blast was sent out letting attendees know about the ballot drop off option. Fliers and other messaging likewise encouraged supporters to bring their ballots.
Republicans launched the new approach when Trump spoke in Reno earlier this month. Now that more people know about the option, campaign staff say the method is gaining some traction.
“We had a whole envelope full of ballots dropped off today, which is really exciting to see,” Halee Dobbins, GOP communications director for Nevada and Arizona, told the DCNF during the rally. “The margins are always close, but we don’t want to leave one vote on the table.”
Volunteers collect ballots at Turning Point Action rally featuring former President Donald Trump in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Credit: Katelynn Richardson/Daily Caller News Foundation)
While many voters maintain reservations about mail ballots, the messaging is landing with some.
Jennifer McGrath, a Las Vegas resident of two years who has volunteered for the Trump campaign, appreciates the convenience of dropping off her ballot while she’s already at the rally. She said it helps her avoid the risk of an issue coming up on election day that prevents her from making it to the polls.
“I also received a receipt which lets me know how to check on the status of my ballot,” she said. “That way within about 48 hours I will know that my ballot has been delivered to the vote center and counted.”
The collection at the rally is only part of a broader strategy Turning Point calls “ballot chasing.”
“We’ve hired full time staffers here, especially in congressional district three, in our low propensity targeted districts and precincts to help to get out that vote,” Gorai said.
At around 20 “Super Chase” events in the past month, volunteers and staffers partnered together to door knock and ensure voters have what they need.
“That might be taking them to the polls, helping them to get the ballot in the mail, helping them to take that to a drop box, whatever it might look like,” Gorai said. “Whatever is easier for the voter is how we approach that ballot.”
While I was in Summerlin assisting voters and knocking on doors, I asked @Lexieeebb to help me with folks who have reached out way across town, to pick up their ballots!
She secured +2 Republican Ballots for @realDonaldTrump and @CaptainSamBrown!
Use the @TPAction_ App and see… pic.twitter.com/1D4AhgJfnQ
— Schayden Gorai
(@schaykg) October 22, 2024
While there has been a more aggressive effort to secure ballots, those working with the Trump campaign believe the GOP’s election integrity efforts have also given voters the confidence to turn out in greater number.
The state party has pushed poll watchers to Clark and Washoe county locations and launched a hotline in southern and northern Nevada.
“I think just having a presence, Republican voters knowing that there are volunteer poll watchers at these locations monitoring the process, I think it really helps those folks,” Nevada GOP executive director Alex Watson told the DCNF. “Just knowing that we have people there that have the best thoughts in mind for the election, making sure it’s safe, secure for everybody.”
Nicole Kelly, a political and election law attorney who served as the Republican National Lawyers Association’s Nevada Political Director in 2022, told the DCNF that highlighting how GOP lawyers are involved in the process has given voters faith issues will be handled in timely manner, not just after election day.
Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Carlos Perez criticized Republicans in a statement to the DCNF for “participating in the same legal process they’ve been telling lies about for years.”
“As we’ve said all along, this election will be close and Nevada Democrats will continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure we elect Democrats up and down the ballot,” Perez said.
Former registered Democrat at Las Vegas Trump rally. (Credit: Katelynn Richardson/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Watson believes the main driver of Republicans turning out to vote early is genuine enthusiasm.
“People want to go out and vote for the president,” Watson said. “We’re seeing the messaging really hitting on like the economy and inflation, and I think that’s been a winning message for us, especially in this state. We’re a tourism-based economy, so we get hit hard when the inflation is high and the economy is bad.”
Trump voters who spoke with the DCNF at the rally and early voting sites consistently named the economy and immigration as top concerns. Multiple who voted early said they just wanted to get it out of the way.
One first-time voter said she has been a long-time Trump supporter but choose to finally vote because it’s been “so bad” the last three years. “We need to make a change,” she said.
A 32-year Democrat who has lived in Las Vegas for nearly four decades told the DCNF he switched his registration this year to vote for Trump in the caucus.
Republicans messaging aims to motivate voters by assuring them their vote will make an impact and making sure they understand how crucial it is in a swing state like Nevada.
“You’re at the center and at the heart of this election,” Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told Las Vegas voters Thursday. “I truly believe that how this state goes is how the election is going to go.”
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