Locals set record on early voting numbers

Monday, Nov. 6, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.

Sun reporters Jeff Libby, Jace Radke and Cy Ryan, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ordinarily, a 36 percent voter turnout on Election Day in a presidential year would be considered poor.

However, if that percentage of the active registered voters show up at the 309 voting sites in Clark County Tuesday, it would bring the total Clark County vote to 75 percent, including early voting and mail-in ballots.

That is the voter turnout Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax predicted today, revising earlier forecasts of 60 percent to 70 percent turnout because of the overwhelming success of early voting.

At the close of early voting last Friday, 167,522 people -- about double the previous record 85,646 in 1996 -- had taken advantage of the 14-day early ballot-casting process. Another 46,015 voters mailed in their ballots. That is about 39 percent of all active registered voters and more than half of the total voting expected in this election.

"I'm expecting about 200,000 people at the polls Tuesday, and that would mean about a 75 percent overall turnout," Lomax said today. "We had to order more voting receipts last week just to get through early voting -- it's obviously a very popular way to vote."

Quelling fears that there will be long lines tomorrow as in 1996, Lomax said there are 2,186 machines, compared with 1,170, at 139 more voting site than were available in 1996.

With Election Day nigh -- the polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday -- major-party vice presidential candidates came to Las Vegas to make final pitches for the presidential candidates and themselves.

Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney was in town this morning to address a group outside the state Republican campaign headquarters while his Democratic counterpart Joe Lieberman attended two predominantly black church services in West Las Vegas Sunday morning to rally voters.

An enthusiastic crowd of 300 flag-waving Republicans gathered in the GOP parking lot to hear Cheney reiterate his 10-minute stump speech of the last two weeks -- questioning the amount of time Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore has had to spend campaigning in his home state of Tennessee.

He said the Republican ticket would take his home state of Wyoming "big time."

Cheney also touted GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush's performance in the presidential debates last month and defended Republican plans to let young workers invest part of their Social Security payments in the private market.

On nuclear waste, Cheney claimed there isn't "a dime's worth of difference" between the policies of the two parties.

Mary Litwin, a member of Active Republican Women of Las Vegas, who said she volunteered six hours at the phone banks calling registered voters during the campaign, was optimistic about Republican chances on Tuesday.

"We're going to win this one," Litwin said. "It's a gut feeling. And the country's tired of being run over by the likes of Bill Clinton and Al Gore."

Before Cheney's plane arrived Sunday at McCarran International Airport, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who had stumped from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, spoke to reporters about the Gore campaign.

"The most important message I'm delivering is that people should stop and think about the last eight years," Kerry said. "Al Gore and Bill Clinton came in for a reason, and Bush was thrown out for a reason.

"The economy was down the tubes, but Clinton and Gore came in and bit the bullet, and now we've had eight years of prosperity. People need to ask themselves why they'd want to change that."

Earlier in the day, Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut, urged volunteers to "knock on some doors in the next few days," referring to a New Testament verse published in the church bulletin at the Second Baptist Church.

"We need to get out the vote on Tuesday."

The church that seats 1,500 was about half full.

"Every person in here that's breathing I want to get to the polls on Tuesday," The Rev. Willie Davis told the congregation. "We want to make sure you don't get lost in the Bushes," a pun on the Republican candidate's name.

Lieberman also attended services at a neighboring Baptist church, attracting a crowd of about 800. Both churches are in an economically depressed area that voted 94 percent Democrat in the 1998 election.

Joining Lieberman were his wife, Hadassah, two daughters and his daughter-in-law. He spoke to each congregation for about 20 minutes.

It was Lieberman's second trip to Las Vegas in nine days, and Cheney's third stop in Nevada in the past month.

With the presidential race within most polls' margin of error, Nevada's four electoral votes could play an important role in determining the next president.

Should the high early voting turnout carry over to Election Day, Southern Nevadans would have more than adequately done its duty in deciding the nation's next leader.

The busiest days at the 13 early voting polling sites throughout the valley were the last three, with a record 21,342 votes on Friday. On Thursday 18,005 people voted and 16,427 people on Wednesday, according to county Election Department records.

Some 72,879 Democrats and 72,132 Republicans voted early. There are about 249,000 registered Democrats and 213,000 registered Republicans in Clark County, the Election Department said.

The busiest local early voting sites were the Meadows Mall with 33,493 ballot-casters, the Galleria at Sunset Mall in Henderson with 28,604 voters and the Boulevard Mall with 19,587.

Early voting in Carson City, Washoe County and Douglas County also reflected record turnouts, though not as heavy as in Las Vegas.

In Carson City, where 26,468 people are registered to vote, 7,075 people voted early compared with 5,182 in 1996. Another 1,700 absentee or mail-in ballots were cast for a 33 percent total early turnout.

In Douglas County, where 21,600 people are registered to vote, 5,506 people -- 1,387 Democrats and 3,517 Republicans -- voted early, compared with 3,000 in 1996. Another 2,125 absentee ballots returned for a 35 percent total early turnout.

In Washoe County, where 181,795 people are registered, 12,959 people voted early, compared with 4,995 in 1996. Another 16,807 votes were mailed for a 16 percent total early turnout.

The Secretary of State is predicting a 60 percent statewide turnout for the general election.

Nevada is one of 13 states where early voting is allowed. The others, according to the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.