Republicans are hoping to bank as many voters through absentee and early voting as possible before turning to an intense get-out-the-vote campaign in the 72 hours before Election Day. In Iowa, a GOP mailer urged voters to "Defend America's Freedom" by voting "today."
Democrats, whose supporters tend to be less reliable voters, are counting on early voting to help them turn out those who irregularly show up at the polls and who may be juggling busy schedules.
In Colorado, where tens of thousands of voters have already cast ballots, Democrats mailed supporters a flier that includes a map of locations in the Denver area that offer a chance to vote early.
In Las Vegas, unions plan to bus casino workers to an early-voting site just off the Strip that is open all night, and this week a truck drove through some of the Hispanic neighborhoods as a Spanish-speaking man with a bullhorn encouraged residents to vote early.
By Thursday, more than 86,000 residents had cast ballots, an increase of almost 30 percent over the number who had done so by this time in 2000. An additional 20,000 had mailed back absentee ballots.
Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax said he is hopeful that a big early vote in Las Vegas could ease the crush of Election Day, eliminating long lines and potentially staving off other problems. Officials in Florida have also ironed out kinks during early voting there.
"I'm hoping that in Florida and elsewhere, early voting will be a pressure valve that can relieve some of the pressure of Election Day and give election officials a chance to work out problems," said Elliott Mincberg, legal director for the liberal People for the American Way Foundation.
Research editor Lucy Shackelford and researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
Get paid for your H I P I M P L A N T troubles.>>