Why Donald Trump's Missing From Nevada Primary Ballot

Donald Trump will not appear on Nevada's primary ballot next month because of a change in the state's election laws.

Nevada Republicans are set to select their preferred candidate in next month's presidential primary in one of the earliest nominating contests of the campaign season, following Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The GOP candidates will face a key test in Nevada, where Latino voters, a demographic that Republicans hope to make gains with this year, make up a third of the population.

Nevada is traditionally a caucus state, meaning voters attend precinct meetings and physically divide themselves into different groups backing different candidates, rather than voting on a primary's ballot. But Nevada has passed a law requiring political parties to hold state-run primary elections if more than one candidate files for the race.

As a result of that law, Republicans will be holding a caucus on February 8, while the state-run primary is set for February 6. Candidates can run in only one of the two options, so voters attending the caucus instead of voting in the primary will vote on a different slate of contenders.

The Republican Party will use the caucus, rather than the primary, to determine who will win the state's 26 delegates, which means the primary election is symbolic. Most of the leading candidates sought to participate in the caucus.

Trump, who remains the overwhelming front-runner for the party's nomination, is among the candidates running in the caucus, so he will not appear on the state's primary ballot. Other candidates running in the caucus are Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will appear on the primary ballot, along with candidates seen as having long-shot odds at winning the nomination.

On the Democratic side, only a state-run primary will be held in Nevada. On February 6, President Joe Biden will face off against author Marianne Williamson and other lesser-known candidates.

Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald has defended maintaining the caucus system despite criticism that it could lead to confusion among GOP voters.

"It gives each candidate the opportunity to perform. It's about getting their people out," he told the Associated Press in October. "And my job, as well as my goal, is to have the candidates get to know all our counties."

Newsweek reached out to the Nevada secretary of state's office and Trump's campaign for comment via email.

With roughly one month until Nevada's elections, independent polling on the state's race remains sparse. A McLaughlin & Associates poll, sponsored by the Trump campaign, was conducted among 400 likely voters from December 11 to 13 and found Trump holding a major lead over other candidates participating in the caucus.

Seventy-five percent of respondents said they planned to back Trump, 15 percent said they would support DeSantis, 5 percent said they intend to vote for Christie, and 2 percent said they are backing Ramaswamy. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Haley, who has seen a recent polling surge in some states, was not included in the Nevada poll. Nevada is considered a crucial battleground state in the general election, and Republicans and Democrats view it as competitive.