Early voting shifts campaign strategies

As more Nevadans cast their votes early, political campaigns are having to rethink strategies in how to best influence the electorate.

During this year's primary, one out of every three voters cast their ballots before Election Day, said Kathryn Ferguson, Clark County registrar of voters.

"Early voting is really becoming popular. But I'm not surprised. People have busy lives. This system allows them to vote when it's convenient. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually most people vote before Election Day," she said.

Early voting, which was introduced to Nevada elections in 1996, has changed the dynamics of individual campaigns.

"It's like we are in a marathon rather than a sprint. We have 15 election days now instead of just one Election Day," said Paul Henry, chairman of the Nevada Democratic Party.

The stretched-out voting season also makes it less likely opponents will resort to last-minute political attacks, he said.

"It's a lot harder for the Republicans to drop a last-minute bomb on us. If they did it the day before Election Day, it would be after many people had already voted," he said.

Ferguson said Thursday that 21,222 people have cast early ballots -- 9,134 registered Republicans and 9,786 Democrats. The remainder were third-party or nonpartisan voters, she said.

The last day for early voting is Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 3.

Henry says early voting favors Democrats because senior citizens and shift workers, traditionally strong constituent groups for Democrats, make up a higher percentage of those choosing to avoid Election Day lines.

"We are having to spread out our mailing more so we reach people earlier, because they may vote well before they have in the past," said Pete Ernaut, campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kenny Guinn.

Ferguson said both political parties are carefully monitoring who has voted early and have phone banks calling probable supporters urging them to cast ballots.

Ernaut said the Guinn campaign is working to make sure all of its volunteers vote early.

"We want to make sure those people are available to work phone banks and do other volunteer work on Election Day," he said.

"So far, our experience has been that people who are leaning one way or another in an election don't vote early. It is the people who are strongly for one particular candidate who do."

John Mason, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, said early voting sometimes frustrates candidates.

"Sometimes they feel like the money they have spent on television ads the last two weeks of the campaign has been wasted because some people have already voted," he said. "But I don't think it makes much difference because people who vote early are usually strongly for one party or the other. So they aren't going to be influenced by something like a television ad."

Ferguson said there has been some confusion concerning whether early voters cast their ballots on the same issues and candidates as they would on Election Day. They do.

"When you vote early, you aren't voting in your precinct," she said. "So names for candidates in other state Assembly districts and County Commission districts appear on the voting machine. But the machine will only allow you to vote on those positions representing your precinct."

Sample ballots depicting the candidate lineup for both early voters and those voting on Election Day were sent out in Clark County.

"This confused some people. A few people thought if they voted early, they could vote on more races than they would be able to on Election Day. Of course, this isn't the case."

Ernaut said the importance of early voting may be overstated by some.

"Here in Clark County you may have have 30 percent of your votes cast early. Up in Washoe County maybe 15 percent of the people vote early. In rural Nevada, those numbers are absolutely microscopic."

But he said the early-voting option is good for the democratic process.

"Anything that encourages people to vote is good for the system." said Denise Rawles, campaign manager for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jan Laverty Jones.

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