Early voting under way

If you just can't take it anymore and want to make it all go away, today is your day.

Early voting in the 2008 general election starts this morning. You can cast your ballot at any one of a number of sites around the valley, then tune out all the talking heads, mailers, phone calls and political advertisements until the final votes are collected Nov. 4.

All eyes, of course, are at the top of the ticket. The presidential campaign has been intensely fought for well over a year; the unpopularity of lame-duck incumbent George W. Bush and the reeling economy have brought overwhelming attention to the race between Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain (for our presidential endorsement, see Sunday's Viewpoints section).

The spotlight hasn't been shining as brightly on the many legislative and judicial races and the handful of ballot questions down ticket. These offices and issues shouldn't be ignored -- they can have a much greater impact on your quality of life than can the occupant of the White House.

If you decide to vote today and don't know a thing about any candidate beyond the ones running for president, it's OK to leave them all blank. Don't cast an uninformed vote and cancel out a well-thought-out, carefully considered ballot.

However, if you want to take the time to make informed decisions, check out the Review-Journal's election guide, which will be published in Sunday's newspaper and will be available online at reviewjournal.com from that day forth. You'll find a synopsis of every race in the county and information on candidates' ideas, priorities and experiences.

To find out where you can vote early, retrieve the sample ballot that landed in your mailbox this week and find the participating shopping mall, community center, grocery store or library closest to your home or job, and the hours the polls will be open. Or you can go to www.accessclarkcounty.com/ depts/election and download the list. Your sample ballot also has detailed arguments for and against every ballot question.

Early voting is extremely popular in Clark County -- typically, about half the ballots cast in each election are submitted during early voting. High turnout is expected this year, so don't be surprised if, in trying to beat the lines of Election Day, you end up standing in one two weeks prior.

That's a good thing.