GOP shortens gap in early voting in Nevada

CARSON CITY - Nevada Democrats have shown up to vote early in far greater numbers than Republicans, but their advantage has started to decline, a report released Thursday indicates.

Of every 100 people who voted early or cast absentee ballots as of Thursday morning, 44 were Democrats, 38 were Republicans and 18 were nonpartisans or members of minor parties, the secretary of state's office reported.

That is a 6 percentage point lead for Democrats, a substantial margin but less than the nearly 9 percentage point lead they enjoyed last week at the end of the first of two weeks of early voting.

The news comes as the early voting period winds down before Tuesday's general election. Today is the last day to vote early . In Clark County, a handful of polling places will be open for those who don't want to wait. Those polling places can be found at the Clark County Election Department's website.

A record 578,031 people in Nevada had cast votes early or by absentee ballot as of 5 p.m. Thursday. That is 46 percent of the state's 1.257 million active voters.

In the nonpresidential election in 2010, 433,000 residents voted early or by absentee ballots. In the presidential election in 2008, the early vote-absentee ballot total was 561,000.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said voters in his county have not yet passed their early voting totals of 2008, but he expects that will occur today .

In the 2008 election, 394,000 people in Clark County voted early, and 210,000 cast ballots on Election Day. As of Thursday morning, about 362,000 people in Clark County had voted early. Another 45,000 had cast absentee ballots.

Lomax predicted an 80 percent total turnout by the end of Election Day in the county. That is similar to past presidential election turnouts.

Secretary of State Ross Miller anticipates a 75 percent to 80 percent statewide turnout.

"What has been different this time is we haven't had as big of a turnout for early voting the second week, compared with the first," Lomax said.

The voting figures from the secretary of state also show that Republicans cast absentee ballots more than Democrats, while Democrats are more likely to show up at early voting places than Republicans.

Of every 100 absentee ballot voters, 44 are Republicans, 40 Democrats and 16 nonpartisan or minor party members.

Absentee ballots received by 7 p.m. Tuesday will be counted. If they arrive late, they will not be counted.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.