State voter registration for primary closes

With the close of voter registration Tuesday for the Aug. 15 primary, Nevada's top election official is hoping for a good turnout even though the election was moved up from its previous early-September time frame.

John Trent, spokesman for Secretary of State Dean Heller, said Heller is predicting a turnout in the primary of 25-30 percent, or between 250,000 and 280,000 voters.

That's assuming "everyone makes a mental adjustment" about the revised primary date approved by the 2005 Legislature, Trent said, adding that the prediction also is based on turnouts in previous elections in non-presidential years.

In the 2002 Nevada primary, when all statewide constitutional offices were up for grabs just as they are this year, the turnout was nearly 28 percent. In 2004, when people were able to vote for president, the turnout went up to nearly 30 percent.

At the end of June, there were 1.1 million active and inactive registered voters in Nevada. That included 948,336 active voters.

"We're a little bit ahead of the pace in 2004" in terms of registrations, Trent said, adding, "A good, ballpark estimate would be a 25 percent to 30 percent turnout."

A breakdown of the active voters at the end of June shows that two-thirds, or 615,590, are in Clark County, which takes in the state's biggest city, Las Vegas. Another 186,136, or about 20 percent, are in Washoe County, encompassing Reno and Sparks.

Statewide, Republicans outnumber Democrats by less than 1 percent, 388,247 to 379,014.

In Clark County, Democrats have a solid edge over Republicans, 267,459 to 229,538. In Washoe County, there are 83,300 GOP voters compared with 66,540 Democrats.

With registration closed, election officials will mail out absentee ballots to voters starting on Friday. And on Saturday, people who want to vote early can do so. Early voting will run through Aug. 11.

In urging lawmakers last year to set an earlier date for Nevada's primaries, proponents said politicians wanted a longer time for the general election campaign. The date of the primary was moved up by three weeks. In the past, they have been held on the first Tuesday in September.