With the close of early voting Friday evening, Carson Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover says he expects a total turnout of about 35 percent for next week's Nevada primary.
A total of 4,135 people cast ballots during early voting, which began May 26. Glover said early voting for the past few cycles has averaged just over 50 percent of total turnout, so he expects about 8,000 of the 22,419 registered to vote in this primary - 35.6 percent.
That is in line with recent election cycles when, in presidential primary years, 35 to 37 percent turned out in the capital.
Turnout was hurt by the fact that the second day of early voting fell on Memorial Day, when the Elections Division was closed. That occurred because the 2011 Legislature moved the primary date from where it was historically.
Considering that and the fact that there are fewer contested primaries in Carson City than normal, Glover said, the turnout was not bad.
Nearly twice as many Republicans went to the polls early as Democrats - 2,379 to 1,355. That is a much stronger turnout for Republicans than for Democrats, since the GOP's registration advantage is just 11,876 to 9,108.
Another factor there is that early voting is most popular among seniors, who tend to register Republican in larger numbers than the electorate as a whole.
Since they don't get to vote in partisan primaries, just 401 nonpartisan voters went to the polls early.
Glover said the general election in November will draw a much higher turnout because of the contentious presidential election and the fact Nevada is considered a swing state both sides must have to claim the White House. He said that - along with the U.S. Senate race between Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Republican Sen. Dean Heller, both of whom are expected to win their primaries handily on Tuesday - will draw 90 percent of Carson voters or more to the polls.
