Nearly half of Fernley voters cast ballots in early voting

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

Tomorrow is Election Day, but already almost half of Fernley’s registered voters have already cast their ballots during early voting, portending one of the largest turnouts of recent elections.

Fernley City Clerk Kim Swanson said more than 5,000 voters cast their ballots in Fernley during early voting.

Because any Lyon County voter can vote at any early voting polling location, some of those 5,000 voters may have come from another part of the county, but Swanson said it’s still an indication that turnout for this year’s election will be high., and not just that those who do vote are doing so early.

I’d like to say the majority of those are from Fernley,” Swanson said. “I think it’s an indicator that more people are voting.”

Swanson said there are a little more than 12,000 registered voters in Fernley.

The early voters indicate that total turnout for this year’s election could exceed the 2012 Presidential Election. In 2012, 7,229 of Fernley’s 10,268 voters cast ballots, a turnout of 70.4 percent.

That turnout was lower than in other parts of Lyon County, and many people in Fernley are concerned that even though Fernley has the most voters of any of Lyon County’s population areas, the balance of power remains in other parts of the county because more voters turn out.

In 2012, Lyon County had 29,038 registered voters, with a total voter turnout of 73.93 percent.

That year, the six Mason Valley precincts, which includes the city of Yerington, had a 77.7 percent turnout. Smith Valley had a turnout of 83 percent in 2012, while Dayton was at 76.7 percent.