GOP faring well in mail ballots

Kirsten Searer

Friday, Oct. 22, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

More Democrats are turning out at early voting polls, but Republicans have done a better job of turning in their mail ballots.

Political parties and other groups sent out hundreds of thousands of mail pieces this year asking voters to cast ballots by mail.

About 67,500 people have requested a mail ballot, and about 21,500 have turned one in.

But Republicans apparently are enjoying the fruit of their mail blitz. As of Thursday morning, 10,328 Republicans had turned in mail ballots, while 9,323 Democrats had turned in mail ballots.

"Our efforts were aggressive, and we've been extremely pleased with the results," said Bush-Cheney spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

Still, Democrats point out that more Democrats actually requested the forms. About 29,700 Democrats have requested mail ballots so far, versus about 28,000 Republicans who have requested a mail ballot.

"Republicans just tend to turn out a little bit earlier than Democrats do," said Democratic Party spokesman Jon Summers. "But we'll get there. There's still a window of time."

Both parties -- and a handful of third-party groups -- are hoping to turn out voters who might not typically make it to the polls.

The Bush-Cheney campaign sent out about 370,000 mail request forms in the county and the state Republican party sent out another 300,000 request forms.

Those are significant numbers -- there are just about 255,000 active Republican voters in the entire county.

"The whole point is just to give you an option," said Chris Carr, executive director of the state Republican party. "Of course, let's cut to the chase -- we're trying to drive up the turnout."

Third-party groups that sent out forms include the AFL-CIO; Women's Voices, Women Vote, an organization meant to turn out female voters; Moving America Forward, a political action committee formed by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat.

The state Democratic Party notified the Clark County Elections Department that it would mail about 21,000 forms and the county Democratic Party said it would mail about 10,000 forms.

The Republican National Committee planned to send about 185,000 forms, according to the elections department.

Traditionally, about 15 percent of voting has been done by mail. Mail ballots must be requested by Tuesday and received by the elections department by 7 p.m. on the Nov. 2 election.

Top Democrats including Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe held a press conference Thursday to tout the numbers of Democrats turning out to vote early.

Of the more than 86,000 people who have cast ballots, 44 percent of people who have cast early ballots are Democrats and 42 percent are Republicans.

"The early vote -- the record numbers -- is extraordinary," McAuliffe said. "If the election were today, John Kerry would win." Sun reporter

Sito Negron contributed to this report.