The frantic sprint is about to begin

Technically, there are three weeks until the real Election Day. But the race in Nevada realistically hits its big deadline this week.

The Clark County registrar's office will close its doors on the voter registration period tonight at 9.

So if you've just alighted in Nevada and feel a dire need to add your voice to the political scene, you've got a few hours to get down there. By this point though, if you've lived here through the caucuses and the candidate visits, the rallies and the robocalls, you're either registered or choosing not to vote.

I don't know how you can be an eligible voter and not register.

For months I've tried to counter the "they're all corrupt" and "I wouldn't vote for either McCain or Obama so I'd be throwing my vote away" and the "one vote doesn't really matter" arguments from the non-voter in my household.

Domestic bribery didn't even hold sway.

So there are some of you who don't give a hoot about tonight's deadline. And there is probably someone you know who is eligible and not registered. Here's an easy way to do your part for your candidate: Offer that person a ride to the registrar today.

Tomorrow shines another spotlight on the national race as John McCain and Barack Obama are scheduled to debate for the final time. If you watch tomorrow's debate and suddenly have a voting epiphany, you'll have to sit on that for four years if you don't register by tonight.

After the debate, the frantic get-out-the-vote sprint (it's actually more of a marathon here) begins. The polls open for early voting in just four days.

And if Nevada is anything like Ohio, a battleground state with early voting, there will probably be lines Friday night.

But consider this a public service. You may be asked to leave any polling location if you are wearing any kind of candidate paraphernalia. State law prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of a polling location.

That's why you'll see the little distance markers.

And if someone tries to give you a sticker on the way in, put it in your pocket.

Electioneering is anything done to sway another voter. And once you're inside that 100-foot marker, you can't even wear it.

NRS 293.740(d) defines electioneering as "Buying, selling, wearing or displaying any badge, button or other insigne which is designed or tends to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party or a candidate or ballot question to be voted upon at that election."

So if I'm reading the law correctly, leave your NOBAMA and YES WE CAN stuff at home.

Vote early, if you must, but leave your political swag at home.

One thing you should bring with you is a form of identification. This is not to suggest that you will be asked to show it, but there are situations in which a poll worker will need to see the ID.

The Obama-Biden campaign is pushing hard for its supporters to vote early for several reasons. There are a lot of new voters. And states without early voting are going to see a crush at the polls three weeks from today.

Long lines tend to intimidate first-time voters. For example, in Ohio four years ago some voters stood in line for three or more hours, while others just walked away.

Neither campaign wants to lose support because there aren't enough voting machines.

If more people vote early or by absentee ballot, there will be less stress on Election Day.

Of course, the Obama-Biden campaign also wants people to vote now, when they have a sizable lead in both the national polls and the battleground states. If the election were Saturday, the statistical data all point to an Obama victory. But a lot can happen in three weeks.

Any more news from Alaska and Gov. Sarah Palin's favorability rating could sink to the more realistic 20 percent she probably deserves. The Ted Stevens trial could finish.

Tony Rezko may, or may not, be sentenced. The convicted Obama fundraiser is apparently trying to cut a deal.

Violence could spike in Iraq or Afghanistan. Terrorists could strike somewhere. The markets could rebound.

Another 777-point drop in the Dow could be lucky for Obama. Another hurricane could form. Another bank could fail.

Obama or McCain could find themselves on the wrong side of the Red Sox Nation, trying to court swing voters in battleground Florida.

The real surprise about October is that we don't know if there is anything surprising about it yet.

There are technically 21 days to go, plenty of time for the momentum to shift, for the race to tighten.

There is time, but only if you beat the clock tonight.

Contact Erin Neff at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.