by April Corbin Girnus, Nevada Current

More than 550,000 ballots had been accepted by the end of the first week of early voting, according to a report from the Secretary of State’s Office.

This puts turnout so far at 28% of eligible registered voters, with one week of in-person early voting and Election Day still ahead. By state law, mail ballots can be received and counted up to four days past Election Day, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

More than half — 56% — of voters so far used a mail ballot, further showcasing the popularity of the vote by mail option, which Nevada implemented in 2020 as a response to covid then made permanent in 2021.

In 2020, only 7% of voters physically cast their ballots.

In 2016, the last presidential election before the switch to universal mail ballots, 62% of turnout occurred during early voting, and only 6% was via mail (also known as absentee). The rest of the votes were cast on Election Day.

Mirroring previous elections, Democrats are showing a stronger preference for mail ballots than Republicans. Two-thirds, 66%, of Democratic turnout so far has been mail, compared to 44% of Republican turnout.

Republicans in previous cycles have cast doubts on mail ballots and encouraged in-person voting on Election Day. In the lead up to the general election, former President Donald Trump and others are encouraging voting early and by any method available.

More registered Republicans have voted so far than registered Democrats, according to the SOS report. Overall turnout was 40% Republican, 35% Democrat, and 25% nonpartisan or third party. How those independent voters lean is seen as critical to the outcome to the presidential race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, as we as other competitive races up and down the ballot.

Turnout by county varies from a paltry 7.7% in rural Esmeralda County, which has only 543 active registered voters, to 42% in Nye County, which has about 33,000 active registered voters.

Clark County, which has 1.4 million active registered voters, has a 26% turnout so far. Washoe County, which has around 328,000 active registered voters, is sitting at 30% turnout.

The NV SOS Office releases turnout reports daily. They can be viewed online here.

The week ahead

Both candidates will return to Southern Nevada on Thursday. Trump will hold a midday rally at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson. The Harris campaign has not released details on where and when her rally will be, but has said she will appear with influential Mexican rock band Maná.

Maná last month removed from streaming websites a song with reggaeton singer Nicky Jam after Jam endorsed Trump and appeared on stage with him at a rally in downtown Las Vegas. (At that rally, Trump appeared to mistakenly believe Jam was a woman, asking the crowd while introducing him, “Do you know Nicky? She’s hot.”)

“Maná does not work with racists,” read a statement, posted in Spanish to Maná’s social media. “For the past 30 years, Maná has supported and defended the rights of Latinos around the world. There is no business or promotion that is worth more than the dignity of our people.”

Both presidential campaigns have been courting Latino voters.

Harris will also campaign in Northern Nevada on Thursday, according to local media reports. Additional details on that rally are also not yet available.

A slurry of surrogates are also expected in the final push toward Election Day. Those include Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who will be in Southern Nevada on Monday and Tuesday.

The last day of early in person voting is Friday, Nov. 1. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.