Voter registration ends quietly

More than a million people had already done it before Tuesday's deadline, but Dave Wells had a good excuse for showing up at the last minute to register to vote.

He was in Hawaii.

"I rushed back yesterday," he said at the Clark County Election Department headquarters in North Las Vegas.

Wells was among a few hundred who registered to vote Tuesday for the Nov. 6 elections. Tuesday was the last day to register. Early voting starts Saturday.

"We haven't had the long lines we've had in the past," said Larry Lomax, the county's registrar of voters. "It's been pretty steady."

This year, the state implemented a system that allowed voters to register online, provided they had a Nevada driver's license and met eligibility criteria.

Lomax said that was probably why the lines never materialized.

The Election Department was open all weekend and stayed open until 9 p.m. Tuesday to accommodate last-minute registrants.

Wells said he had traveled to Hawaii to help his son, but he had to leave Monday so he could register to vote.

"It's important," he said. He regrets not being registered in the past.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 851,250 active voters were registered in Clark County, according to Election Department data. There were 390,073 Democrats, 262,643 Republicans and 198,534 nonpartisans or "other."

Lomax said those totals will increase as new voters are entered into the system by department workers who were processing paperwork. A final tally should be available today.

Statewide, as of Sept. 30, there were 1,187,238 total active voters, including 493,606 Democrats and 422,045 Republicans.

The total number is about 4 percent higher than at the same time in 2008, which is slightly more than the state's population growth.

Some people registering Tuesday didn't have excuses as good as being in Hawaii.

"I spaced it," said Stephanie Quimby, who was updating her registration Tuesday because she had moved.

"Procrastination," said another Stephanie - Stephanie Ahrens.

Ahrens said she had planned on registering online but recently moved to Nevada and didn't have a local driver's license yet. That's a requirement to register online.

"I'm like, 'Oh no. I have to go in,' " she said.

Ray Winters said there is too much at stake in this election to skip it. He said he is a disabled veteran and is very suspicious of the government.

"I want to make sure my vote counts," he said.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.