Early voting trends in Nevada appear to favor Democrats, but there’s time for Republican voters to close the gap — or for Democrats to extend their advantage, for that matter.

As of Tuesday, Democrats held a nearly 30,000 edge over the GOP when it came to mail ballots and early voting. While the number of voters identifying as independent has increased significantly in recent years, that’s a clear edge.

Early voting ends Friday evening, and mail ballots will be tallied through next week. For those who favor the more traditional approach, the polls will open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for in-person voting. Any registered Nevada voter may cast a ballot at any polling place. A comprehensive list of voting sites is included in the sample ballot that each voter received earlier this month.

Those who prefer the convenience of the mail option should know that the recommended deadline for dropping ballots at the post office has now passed. U.S. Postal Service officials insist they are prepared to deliver mail ballots in a timely matter. But they nevertheless urge voters to put completed ballots in the mail no later than a week before Election Day to avoid potential delivery problems. Nevada statutes allow election officials to count ballots that are postmarked on or before Tuesday as long as they are received no later than 5 p.m. on Nov. 7, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

That doesn’t mean Nevada mail voters are now out of luck. Rather than risk problems with the post office, they may deposit their ballots at drop boxes at any polling place or return their ballot directly to a county election department. “Voters can also check out the interactive map from the (Nevada secretary of state) to see drop box sites and polling locations throughout the state of Nevada,” Emily Persaud-Zamora told the Nevada Current in a statement.

The Current reports that about 45 percent of Nevada voters in the 2024 general election chose the mail option, one of the highest percentages in the nation.

Nevada is one of only eight states — largely in the West — in which all registered voters receive a mail ballot by default. The wisdom of that policy is a matter of debate — from both a financial and election security perspective — but absent reforms to existing law, partisans on either side of the divide would be foolish to downplay the potential turnout advantages of mail voting.