Surge in early voting expected to persist

More than a third of Nevada voters already have cast their ballots, and election workers are bracing for a second-week surge that could shatter all previous turnout records for early voting.

Clark County registrar of voters Larry Lomax said his department may have to mobilize more people to work the polls if this presidential election plays out the way the last two did.

Each of those elections set records for early voting in the first week and then saw even more people show up at the polls during the second week of early balloting.

According to figures released by the Nevada secretary of state's office Monday, almost 374,000 people cast early ballots statewide through Sunday. Another 60,000 sent in absentee ballots, bringing total turnout in Nevada to 34 percent after the first nine days of voting.

In Clark County, almost 211,000 people - roughly one-quarter of active registered voters - cast their ballots during the first week of early voting. In 2008, fewer than 160,000 early ballots were cast during the first week. In 2004, the total was a little more than 100,000.

Another 54,377 voters went to the polls over the weekend, bringing the county's total through Sunday to almost 266,000 ballots cast.

"We've had extremely high turnout so far," Lomax said. "People appear to have made up their minds."

Statewide, roughly 35,000 more Democrats than Republicans went to the polls or returned absentee ballots during the first nine days of voting, which could give the early edge to President Barack Obama over GOP challenger Mitt Romney.

More than 77,000 third-party and nonpartisan voters also cast their ballots early or by mail through Sunday.

Early voting ends Friday. Election Day is Nov. 6.

Lomax said few problems have been reported at the polls, but he and other election workers have fielded some "pretty nasty calls" from people spouting conspiracies and crying "fraud." Mostly, it's the usual nonsense he hears every election, he said, though the noise seems a bit louder this time around.

"They climb all over me," Lomax said of some callers. "They just hate the other side, and they hate it so intensely they believe if their side isn't winning, someone must be cheating."

One story that found some legs on the Internet involved a woman who tried to vote at the Centennial Center location in the northwest valley, but every time she tried to select the Romney-Ryan ticket, her electronic voting machine put the check mark next to Obama-Biden instead.

The unnamed woman eventually got her vote recorded correctly with the help of election workers, but some have pointed to the story as evidence of possible election tampering.

Lomax had heard the story but couldn't vouch for any of the specifics.

He said it's possible the machine malfunctioned - touch-screen voting machines do occasionally lose calibration, "just like a video poker machine or anything else" - but the story ended the way it is supposed to: with a voter casting her ballot the way she intended to.

Lomax urged voters to pay close attention to their selections as they make them and double check the printout of their choices before casting their ballots. If any problems or discrepancies crop up, immediately ask a poll worker for help, he said.

Voting in Nevada and other battleground states has been closely scrutinized by official poll watchers from both major parties. Lomax said there are "literally hundreds of attorneys from out of state" in Nevada right now to keep an eye on the balloting.

But at least one amateur observer seems to be taking the watchdog role a bit too seriously. At one early voting site, poll workers noticed that someone has been carrying off their trash before the garbage truck can come collect it.

Lomax can't help but chuckle at that one.

"We don't do anything that's secret," he said. "Everything we do is posted on the website the next morning."

During the noon hour on Monday, about a dozen people stood in line to cast their ballots at Meadows mall, the valley's second busiest early voting site.

The small line moved quickly, and no one had to wait more than a few minutes.

Poll observers from both parties had nothing but praise for the election workers there. "The staff is very competent, there's enough of them, and the machines all work well," said Bill Blair, who has spent six days watching the proceedings as a Romney campaign volunteer. "If someone's not voting, it's not these people's fault."

Other observers logged a handful of instances where people were turned away before they could vote, but election workers did not appear to be at fault.

In one case, a man convicted of a felony 15 years ago was told he couldn't vote, though he claimed he was allowed to cast a ballot in 2008. In another case, a Hispanic woman said someone came to her door and registered her to vote, but when she showed up at the polls, she discovered she wasn't on the rolls.

Blair said the voting process has been "pretty impressive," and so has the turnout.

"It'd be sad if nobody was here," the almost 40-year Las Vegas resident said, but it's surprising to see so many people voting early.

"I'm going to be observing on Election Day, and I might have a boring day," Blair said with a smile. "By then, there might not be anybody left."

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.