Early voting draws big, bipartisan crowds in first 3 days

Early voting in Clark County continued to draw big, bipartisan crowds, as more people cast ballots on Monday than on either of the first two days of voting over the weekend.

According to figures supplied by Clark County, 29,610 people cast their ballots at early voting locations on Monday, more than the 27,000 who voted on Saturday — the first day of early voting — or the 23,000 who voted on Sunday.

All told, just more than 80,000 Clark County voters have participated in early voting so far, according to the county. As of Monday, 48 more Democrats than Republicans had voted, with an additional 15,400 nonpartisans casting ballots.

But Democrats are far outpacing their GOP rivals in mail voting: As of Monday, nearly 64,000 Democratic ballots had been returned to the county, compared with 20,345 Republican ballots. Nonpartisans turned in nearly 24,000 ballots.

Under the provisions of Assembly Bill 4 — passed in a special session this summer — every active registered voter in Nevada will receive a mail ballot for the general election. As a result, officials expect a much higher than usual percentage of ballots to be cast by mail.

Overall in Clark County, about 96,300 Democrats have turned in votes, compared to 52,600 Republicans. Nonpartisans account for another 39,100. A total of more than 188,000 ballots have been cast in Clark County thus far, representing about 14.8 percent active voter turnout.

According to the secretary of state’s office, as of Monday, nearly 281,000 ballots had been cast statewide, which represents a total Nevada voter turnout of nearly 16 percent.

Early voting continues daily until Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.

On Tuesday, Clark County elections officials began scanning mail ballots. Under AB4, officials are allowed to start counting mail ballots 15 days before Election Day. Ballots are only accepted for counting if the signature on the ballot envelope matches the signature on file with the county. Ballots without signatures or with mismatched signatures are set aside until officials can contact the voter to verify his or her identity.

There are 35 permanent early voting locations in Clark County, and any voter can cast a ballot at any voting center. Clark County also has a link on its website to determine the average waiting time at each site.

If you have questions about early voting, you can click here for more information. And the Review-Journal’s comprehensive election frequently asked questions feature can be found here.

Contact Steve Sebelius at SSebelius@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253. Follow @SteveSebelius on Twitter.