Voting for general election starts today

Today is the first day of early voting for the general election in Nevada County, and it could prove to be an important barometer of how locals who choose to wait might vote in November.

Nevada County has the highest percentage of voters who participate via mail-in ballot in the state of California: 76 percent, according to the county elections office.

And there's a good chance those who vote early won't want to change their vote when Election Day rolls around in less than a month, said a University of California, Berkeley, professor who studies political behavior and political sociology.

"Most of the people who tend to vote early already have their minds made up," Jack Citrin said.

Those who vote early generally are more definite in their opinions of the candidates and issues when they head to the polls or the mailbox with their ballot in tow. They also are generally older and are better-educated, Citrin said.

"It's also fair to say that people who vote early have more partisan attachments and more definite opinions," he added

It's unlikely, though, there would be such a dramatic shift in the political landscape that a person who voted early would have doubts about that vote on Election Day, he said.

The general election itself is more defined, unlike the June primary, when candidates who had been popular early on dropped out later - such as John Kerry and Mike Huckabee - after voters in early primaries and caucuses already had cast their ballots for them.

The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 20, and the last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Oct. 28.

Today is the first day that vote-by-mail ballots can begin to be mailed to voters who have requested them or who live in a vote-by-mail precinct, which is one that has fewer than 250 registered voters.

Citizens who cannot appear in person at their polls, or who want to vote in person prior to Election Day, may go to the Elections Office in Nevada City. Electronic voting equipment and paper ballots will be available.

The Elections Office will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day for voting.

All ballots must be received in the Nevada County Elections Office or a Nevada County polling place by 8 p.m. Nov. 4.

To contact Staff Writer David Mirhadi, e-mail dmirhadi@theunion.com or call 477-4239.