LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — If the trend continues, Friday could see the most Nevada early voters in the past two weeks.
In-person early vote totals have steadily increased, starting with 23,000 voters on Monday and rising to nearly 32,000 on Thursday.
All told, more than 665,000 people had voted — either in-person at early voting sites or by mail — as of Friday afternoon, according to figures from the Nevada secretary of state.
WATCH | Early voting ends on Friday!
Republicans were slightly ahead of Democrats in early voting — leading by about 9,000 ballots statewide — but Democrats had a lead of nearly 45,000 mail-in votes, as of Friday.
But that doesn't include in-person Election Day voting, where Republicans tend to turn out in larger numbers than Democrats. In 2022 — the last midterm election — Election Day votes accounted for about 21% of all votes cast.
In a poll released Friday by Noble Predictive Insights, the race for governor was tied at 47% each for incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo and Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford.
The poll — with a margin of error of 4.44% — also showed Democrats Sandra Jauregui, Nicole Cannizzaro and Cisco Aguilar leading their opponents in races for lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state, respectively.
The 665,000 votes cast as of Friday afternoon represent about 32% of all active registered voters. Turnout in midterm elections has averaged about 56.3% over the past 24 years. In presidential election years, by contrast, turnout has averaged about 76.5% during the same period.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly encouraged voters at rallies to pretend he's on the ballot in a bid to boost midterm turnout.
On Tuesday, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can find a list of Election Day voting centers here. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday in order to be counted, but they can be dropped off in drop boxes at all Election Day voting sites as well.
Election results in Nevada won't be released until the last voter has cast a ballot anywhere in Nevada. Final, unofficial election results won't be released until about a week after Election Day — although the outcome of many races should be clear on Tuesday or Wednesday.
