Clark County early voting starts Saturday

The rush to vote in Clark County before Election Day starts Saturday.

Election workers will be in shopping malls, schools and libraries and other public places, where voting booths and ballots will be ready for registered voters over the two-week early voting period.

Early voting lasts through Oct. 31, the Friday before the Nov. 4 general election. The lineup of elections this year doesn’t include a presidential race or a U.S. Senate race. But the ballot is still chock-full of local, legislative and statewide races.

Voters will make decisions on three County Commission races, four congressional races, the governor’s and lieutenant governor’s races and a ballot issue that would tax business revenue to fund public education. Also on the ballot are races for state and county offices, state Senate and Assembly, university Board of Regents, Clark County School Board, as well as District, Family and justice courts.

“Traditionally, there’s not as much turnout, but there’s plenty of important issues on the ballot,” county Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said about midterm elections.

However, early voting for midterm elections has grown since 2000 and Gloria said he expects to see that trend continue this year. Most local voters end up voting before Election Day.

In the 2010 midterm election, 35 percent of all registered voters in the county — 258,283 people — cast ballots during early voting. For that election cycle, the overall turnout, including Election Day and absentee voting, was 63.3 percent. That means 55 percent of all ballots cast came during early voting.

In comparison, early voting during the midterm election of 2006 attracted 25.5 percent of registered voters, or 165,293 individuals. Overall, early voting in 2006 accounted for 45.5 percent of all ballots cast.

The county has 89 early voting sites and 823,370 registered voters.

For a full schedule of early voting times and locations, visit the county election website at www.ClarkCountyNV.gov/vote. Voters who are uncertain if they are registered to cast ballots can check their registration status in the registered voter services box on the site.

Those without Internet access can call the Election Department at 702-455-VOTE (8683).

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1