I attended a meeting last night at the Clark County Government Building regarding the switch to voting centers on election day. These voting centers, similar to the way early voting works, will allow voters to go anywhere in Las Vegas on election day - not just their historic polling center. These will be used starting with the primary elections in 2018 county-wide and have already been successfully utilized for municipal elections this year.

All of this is made possible through the use of a VPN-connected network utilizing 2-factor authentication to log on to the “poll book.” The poll book is essentially the same as the paper sign-ins of the past, except this one is done electronically and instantly (real-time) validated against the existing information in the database. It would notify an election board member of a voter who has already voted before - it also saves the sign-in electronically, for later verification should there be any question of integrity.

These voting centers will be available at a maximum of 2 miles apart, and in popular voting areas, much closer than that. Early voting will not change except to grow even larger given its popularity here in Clark County, NV. Although it requires some technology investment in the beginning, this eliminates the need for so many polling centers and personnel as in the past. It eliminates mail-only precincts and the vast-majority of provisional ballots by providing all types of ballots at all voting centers, greatly simplifying election night results.

This helps those who still wish to vote on election day to do so at the location closest to them - which for many, is miles away from home! It provides better security and election-day integrity, real-time verification, and (bonus!) wait times at voting centers. Yes folks, you can pull up the centers near you and find the closest low-wait time voting center! Cool, huh?

Bottom line: technology continues to improve our lives and makes election day more accessible to those with low-transportation capability, who previously may have had to ride the bus all the way back home to vote. Now they can stop at a nearby Albertson’s or government center and vote away! For more information or questions, send your information to the Clark County Registrar of Voters, Joe P. Gloria, at [email protected] or by calling him at (702) 455-2784.

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Alexander DiBenedetto is the Executive Director of the Libertarian Party of Nevada. The opinions expressed are his own and not necessarily reflective of the views of the Libertarian Party of Nevada.