Indications are for large turnout in general election

If requests for absentee ballots are any indication of the turnout for the 2010 general election, it's going to be substantial.

Douglas County Elections Clerk Supervisor Concha Lord said demand for absentee ballots has been higher than expected.

"We've had a lot more requests than we expected," she said. "There's been a lot of interest in this election."

Early voting starts Saturday at the Minden courthouse, the Tahoe Transportation Center in Stateline and at Topaz Ranch Estates Volunteer Fire Station.

The polls open at 10 a.m. in all three locations. Registered voters may cast their ballots at any of the three locations no matter what precinct they live in.

During the primary, early and absentee voting accounted for nearly half the votes casts.

"Early voting is always popular," Lord said. "We always have a really good turnout."

Lord is more cautious about estimating the final turnout for the election.

"We had 71 percent turnout in 2006, but we had 92 percent in 2008," she said. "We've quite a few more absentees than expected, so it might be closer to 90 percent than 70, but I'm not a betting woman."

Early voting continues through 2 p.m. Oct. 29, which is the Nevada Day holiday.

Polls will be open in the Minden courthouse Oct. 18-23 and Oct. 25-29. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Nevada Day.

The polls will be open at Tahoe Transportation Center on Oct. 23 and 27, and at the Topaz Ranch Estates fire station on Oct. 23.

Polling places will also be open 3-6 p.m. at the Sunridge Fire Station on Tuesdays, at the Gardnerville Ranchos Fire Station on Wednesdays and at the Johnson Lane Fire Station on Thursdays in the two weeks leading up to the Nov. 2 general election.

As of Oct. 1, Douglas County had 33,309 active and inactive voters registered, giving it the third highest voter total in the state behind Clark and Washoe counties.

Douglas has the largest Republican majority in the state, with 17,015 registered to vote in the county compared to 9,403 Democrats and 4,848 independents.