Fewer voters in state after rolls purged

The number of active registered voters in Nevada dropped by 16,000 in April as the Clark County Registrar's Office moved nearly 35,000 names to the inactive list.

The total registered and active voters in Nevada stood at 856,599 as of April 30 - down from 872,632 a month earlier.

Despite the increase in population, that is about 45,000 fewer registered voters than the 904,000 registered for Nevada's 1998 general elections. However, that total included names which would now be classified as inactive.

Secretary of State Dean Heller predicted the number of registered voters would begin to climb again now that most of the inactives have been pulled from the list and registration efforts continue toward this year's elections.

The segregation of inactive voters by Clark County had a disproportionate effect on the Democrats - removing about 7,900 of them from the total compared to only 5,000 Republicans.

That increased the GOP's statewide registration lead from 8,690 at the end of March to 11,563 as of April 30.

There are now 355,527 Republicans statewide compared with 343,954 Democrats.

Voters who list no party are the next largest group at 128,469, followed by the Independent American Party with 18,342 registered members.

No other party in Nevada has more than 5,000 members on the voter rolls.

Carson City has 21,905 active registered voters - 11,108 Republicans and 7,364 Democrats. Douglas, one of the most lopsided in the state, has 20,453 voters registered and the GOP holds a near 2:1 lead with 11,827 to 5,402 Democrats.

The GOP leads registration figures in all counties except Mineral, White Pine and Clark. The overall totals are brought close by the Democratic Party's nearly 30,000 voter advantage in Clark.

The inactive names were segregated under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 which sends registration cards to voters. If those cards are returned as undeliverable because the voter no longer lives at that address, the voter's name is placed on the inactive list. However, under federal law, inactive voters can still turn up at the polls and vote. In Carson City, they will be asked to fill out a change-of-address card.