CARSON CITY -- Seven of Nevada's 17 counties are planning on cutting back on a two-week period of early voting because the final -- and what's expected to be the biggest -- day falls this year on Oct. 31, Nevada Day.

The secretary of state's office says clerks in Esmeralda, Lincoln, Pershing, Mineral, Lyon and Eureka counties don't plan to have early voting on Nevada Day, while Nye County officials plan to limit such voting to Tonopah while excluding Pahrump.

All the counties are in outlying areas, with small populations compared with the state's urban centers of Clark County, encompassing Las Vegas, and Washoe County, taking in Reno. The big counties will have early-voting sites available on Nevada Day.

Early voting starts Oct. 18, and by the time such balloting ends it's expected to account for a large chunk of all voting. When the early votes are combined with absentee ballots, they typically add up to half or more of all votes cast by the time polls close on Election Day.

"It's obviously a big concern for us (to have the full early-voting period) given the anticipated turnout," said Secretary of State Ross Miller -- who's estimating that as many as 85 percent of Nevada voters will cast ballots by the time polls close on Nov. 4.

That's in sharp contrast to primary election balloting, which saw a record low turnout of 14 percent of the state's 1.3 million registered voters.

The low turnout was a result of a ballot with few major races, while the predicted high turnout in the general election is based mainly on the high interest in the presidential race.

Miller said he's looking into possible use of federal Help America Vote Act funds to help the outlying counties cover costs of early voting on Nevada Day. The secretary of state's office estimates the total cost wouldn't exceed $10,000.

"Our opinion is that they must remain open for early voting," Miller said. "But my understanding is that some district attorneys say there's no obligation to have early voting available on holidays."

"The last day of early voting is the busiest day," Miller said. "The issue for us is to try to encourage it."