With just five days remaining of early voting for the 2026 General Election, the Washoe County Registrar of Voters is reminding residents to take advantage of the opportunity to vote early or return their mail ballot ahead of Election Day.
Washoe County’s 18 early voting centers will remain open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday, Oct. 30. Voters may cast their ballot at any vote center throughout the County, regardless of where they live. A complete list of locations and an interactive map displaying wait times are available at washoecounty.gov/votecenters. Staffed mail ballot drop boxes are also available at every early voting center during operating hours.
Among the available locations are Reno Town Mall and Sparks Library, both of which are open exclusively during early voting and will not operate on Election Day.
Friday, Oct. 30, is also the recommended last day to mail a ballot through the U.S. Postal Service. After that date, voters are encouraged to deliver their ballot directly to the Registrar of Voters office at 1001 E. Ninth St., Building A, during extended business hours, or to a staffed ballot drop box on Election Day. The office will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1.
As part of the Registrar of Voters’ “Don’t Wait, Washoe” campaign, voters are encouraged to cast their ballots early, helping reduce Election Day lines and spread out the work required to process and count ballots. Votes cast during early voting and mail ballots processed before Election Night will be among the first votes included in the initial unofficial election results released after polls close statewide on Nov. 3.
While ballots cast in person are scanned directly at vote centers, mail ballots require several additional steps before counting, including signature verification, sorting, ballot extraction and scanning. Returning mail ballots early gives election workers more time to complete these procedures, while voting in person early helps distribute the workload at vote centers across multiple days.
“Ballot processing takes a lot of work to ensure every eligible vote is counted,” Registrar of Voters Andrew McDonald said. “Casting your vote early allows us to spread the workload and helps Washoe County get results out faster on Election Night.”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, when 41 vote centers will be open throughout Washoe County from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information about voting options, registration or assistance with the upcoming election, contact the Washoe County Registrar of Voters at 775-328-3670 or visit washoecounty.gov/voters.
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