Early voting gets under way in Henderson

By Frances Vanderploeg

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008 | 3:56 p.m.

Liliana Abreu of Henderson didn't see any reason to wait until Election Day to cast her ballot this year.

"It's been pretty definite since the beginning," Abreu said of her choice for president, though she did not volunteer who she voted for.

She was among 68,928 people in Clark County who cast votes in the first three days of early voting, which started on Saturday and continues through Oct. 31, election officials said.

The number reflects a growing trend in early voting. A total of 41,922 people cast votes during the same three-day start of the early voting period in 2004 and 26,936 in 2000.

Abreu, who voted yesterday at the Galleria at Sunset mall in Henderson, was in and out of the booth so quickly that a friend asked how she was able to make her way through the ballot.

Simple, she said, "I knew what I wanted."

Voting early comes with the advantage of shorter lines and knowing that, no matter what happens on Election Day, there aren't any worries about not making it to the polls, voters said.

In the past, the first few days and the last few days have been the busiest at early voting sites, said Steve Pak, early voting program supervisor.

Tamara Braxton voted at the mall just days before her wedding. She said she was not going to return from her honeymoon until the day before the election, so she didn't want to risk missing the opportunity to vote.

"What happens if I can't get here that day?" she said. "It's interesting how we can find time to go to the mall but not to go vote."

Christine and Brad Lord-Leutwyler went to the polls as a way to stress the importance of voting to the younger generation. Brad Lord-Leutwyler, a professor at UNLV, proudly placed his "I voted in Clark County, Nevada" sticker on his shirt before running to his next class.

"If they're constantly reminded it's being done, maybe they'll be encouraged to vote," he said.

For the Lord-Leutwylers, the act of voting is an important part of being a U.S. citizen.

"We really believe that it is our fundamental not only right, but duty, to vote," Christine Lord-Leutwyler said.

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or [email protected].