Early voting totals weak in Nevada, Clark County

CARSON CITY - Early election vote totals are in and it is clear most Nevadans could not care less that there is a primary election Tuesday.

Just 11 percent, or 116,913 of the state's 1,058,808 active registered voters cast ballots or sent in absentee votes, according to figures posted by the secretary of state Monday. The two weeks of early voting ended Friday. In Clark County, the turnout was less - 10.2 percent voted, or 70,798 of the county's 691,575 active registered voters.

The low turnout is along the lines of the predictions made by Secretary of State Ross Miller and Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax. Miller predicted a total turnout of 15 percent to 20 percent, while Lomax expects 18 percent of Clark County voters will cast ballots.

Miller also expects about 60 percent of all votes in the primary election will be made by early voters. He will post early voting results, hopefully by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. His office will post results on its www.SilverStateElection.com website. Because the early vote is such a high percentages of the total vote, that means winners in other than close races should be known before sunset.

Six key races will be featured on the secretary of state home page - the 4th Congressional District Republican primary; the Democratic primaries of state Senate District 1, state Senate District 11, Assembly District 21; and the Republican primaries of state Senate District 18 and Assembly District 39.

The secretary of state anticipated voting would be low because of the lack of "hot races." Unless there are competitive, major races on election ballots, he said voters largely ignore elections. Two years ago, a time when there were hot governor and U.S. Senate primaries, 38.7 percent of voters cast ballots early.

Looking at the early voting, it was clear Republicans were more interested in the primary races. The most competitive race could be the 4th Congressional District Republican primary that features state Sen. Barbara Cegavske and frequent candidate Danny Tarkanian.

In Clark County, 14 percent, or 32,472 of the 231,784 Republicans cast ballots, compared to 10.7 percent, or 32,973 of the 307,673 Democrats. But only 3.8 percent, or 5,823 of the 152,118 county's nonpartisans or minor party members cast votes.

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