HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Early voters pick up their ballots at the Pahrump Valley Justice Court Monday morning. Early voting here ends next Wednesday. Advertisement

TONOPAH -- There were 668 votes cast in the first three days of early voting for the Aug. 15 primary, Nye County Clerk Sam Merlino said.

The first day of early voting Saturday drew 269 people to the polls, 246 people voted in Pahrump, another 23 people voted in Tonopah, Merlino said. Numbers dropped on Sunday with 52 early voters in Pahrump, she said. The polls weren't open for early voting in Tonopah Sunday.

But there was another busy day of early voting Monday, with 347 votes cast countywide, including 338 in Pahrump and nine in Tonopah.

Voters in Nevada don't need an excuse to vote early and skip the lines on election day.

Nye County has 20,719 registered voters this year. Merlino said in a typical election there are usually 2,000 early votes cast, which would represent about 10 percent of the total.

While it's a midterm election year in the presidential race, there are some hotly contested elections locally.

Pahrump voters in Districts 4 and 5 -- which include most of the area south of Basin Road and east of Blagg Road -- will elect new county commissioners this year. Five candidates are competing in the Republican primary in district four.

The sheriff's race is also expected to draw a lot of voters.

Three Democrats and three Republicans are competing in the primaries for the Assembly District 36 seat vacated by Rod Sherer, R-Pahrump.

Early voting ends in Pahrump next Wednesday, while the early voting ends in Tonopah Aug. 11.

The primary is usually held the first Tuesday in September. The general election is Nov. 7. The Nevada Legislature passed a bill last session moving the date up to Aug. 15.

"That's for the larger counties. They didn't feel there was enough time between the primaries and the general," Merlino said.