CARSON CITY -- Lines formed at polling sites Friday, the last day to vote early in Nevada, and election officials said the combined total of early and absentee ballots should approach 300,000 -- half of all those expected to vote by the time polls close on Tuesday.

In Clark County, Registrar Larry Lomax said the early vote total by late Friday, with a few hours to go before the closing of polling sites, was more than 160,000. He said more than 24,000 absentee ballots had been sent in.

A breakdown of the more than 184,000 early-absentee voters in Clark County shows that 82,902, or 46 percent, were Democrats, and 74,593, or 41 percent, were Republicans.

In Washoe County, Registrar Dan Burk said the county's record for early voting in general elections, set in 2004, was broken Thursday when the total hit 34,200. By Friday evening, with people still voting, the count stood at 40,356. About 15,000 others had mailed in absentee ballots.

A breakdown of the more than 55,000 early and absentee voters in the county shows that 21,721, or 39 percent, were Democrats, and 26,012, or 47 percent, were Republicans.

Nonpartisans and members of smaller parties accounted for the balance of the early and absentee voters in the two counties, Nevada's most populous with 85 percent of all registered voters in the state.

The turnout by Democrat and Republican voters generally reflects overall registration. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Las Vegas area, while there are more GOP voters than Democrats in the Reno area.

In the state's 15 smaller counties, more than 32,000 people had voted early as of Friday morning. More than 10,000 absentee ballots were expected in the rural counties.

Early voting started Oct. 21. When the early votes are added to absentee ballots, election officials say they should add up to about half or more of the nearly 600,000 Nevadans expected to vote by the time the polls close on Tuesday.

Just under 1 million active voters have registered, and the secretary of state's office has predicted about 60 percent of those Nevadans will cast early, absentee or regular ballots.

Ellick Hsu, the elections chief in the secretary of state's office, is basing his turnout prediction on the 2002 elections, when 59 percent of the state's active voters cast ballots.

The prediction is well below the 77 percent turnout in 2004, when the presidency was at stake. A lower turnout in the "off-year" elections is typical, even though there's strong voter interest, because the governor's office and other statewide elective posts are open.

The Clark County voter registration total is 647,904, with Democrats accounting for 43 percent and Republicans 37 percent of the total. Lomax has estimated that 55-60 percent of those voters will actually cast ballots.

The Washoe County registration total is 192,756, with Democrats accounting for 36 percent and Republicans 45 percent of the total. A turnout of 65 percent to 70 percent is expected in the county, due in part to high interest in the tight 2nd Congressional District race between Republican Dean Heller and Democrat Jill Derby.