Early voting starts Saturday for Carson, Douglas, Lyon

So, you haven't made your choice for president, senator or even mayor. That's OK, you have 18 days to make up your mind.

However, if your mind is made up on the candidates, vote early.

Early voting in Carson City starts Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Carson City Courthouse, 885 E. Musser St.

Carson City Clerk Alan Glover said people have been having a hard time finding the address on the side of the building, "So we've been telling everyone its the new courthouse on the corner of East Musser and Roop Street."

Early voting will be Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voters can still head to the polls on the Nevada Day holiday, Friday, Oct. 27 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. During the final week of early voting - Oct. 30 through Nov. 3 - the courthouse will be open to voters from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"Early voting is convenient," Glover said. "People can vote went they want to, not just on one day."

Those who are blind or visually impaired and want to use the city's new tactile ballot must vote during early voting.

Glover expects about 80 percent of Carson City's 22,724 registered voters to vote in the general election.

"We'll beat any other county in the state, even Douglas County," Glover said. "The only one that may beat us is Eureka. They always have a high turnout."

Carson City has allowed early voting since 1994. Glover said he expects about 5,000 people to vote early, up from 4,000 in 1998.

"We work at it every day to get ready," Glover said. "But everything is in place, and we're ready to go."

Glover also said absentee voter participation is "sky high for this election." He said in 1998, fewer than 1,000 people voted absentee. So far this year, he said, the Elections Division has received 1,500 absentee ballots and requests for ballots, with hundreds more coming in every day.

"Both parties are really pushing absentee voting," Glover said. "Maybe they think they can get more people to vote that way. It will be interesting to see if early voting goes down because of those who are voting by absentee ballot."

Glover had no estimate for the cost of running this year's election except to say that it's "expensive."