Election officials hope for smooth sailing

Mark Miller

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 12:26 p.m.

Clark County election officials, who have instituted several improvements for November's general election, are expecting this year's voting to be a smooth process.

Or so they hope.

"We've really tried to take the polls to the people this year," county Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson said.

Increased training for temporary election officials, increased numbers of supervisors and smaller amounts of voters allotted to each polling place, should contribute to greater voter convenience, Ferguson said.

To cope with over 550,000 registered voters, compared with about 470,000 in the 1996 general election, assistant registrar Larry Lomax said, the county has added 93 new voting sites and 500 new voting machines for a total of 248 sites and 1836 machines.

"You can now vote near where you work, where you shop, where you take dance lessons -- where you live," Ferguson said. "There should be several sites where you can vote while going about your daily business."

Sites will be added not just for the Nov. 3 election day, but also for the early voting period which is being held until Oct. 30.

"We had a record 43,000 early voters for the primary, and we expect to double that for the general election," Ferguson said.

Those voting early cite convenience as their reason for not waiting for the Tuesday election. "Some people say they don't feel comfortable getting off from work, or they will be out of town then." Ferguson said. "Some people wouldn't be able to vote without it (early voting)."

Although dates and times vary for most of the 46 early voting sites, voters are notified through radio announcements, cards handed out by candidates and posters in the communities.

But the best source for election information is the newly revised sample ballot which was mailed on Oct. 13, Lomax said.

"It tells people how to use the machines, it has the times and the dates for polling, the locations, even a map to get there," Ferguson said. "It has both a sample early voting ballot and an election's day sample."

"Voting will be a lot quicker for everybody if people don't wait until they're in the booth to make up their mind on the questions or to chose the candidates," she said.

And she hopes cosmetic changes to the sample will cause greater use. "People used to throw it away with the junk mail, but we've made it red, white and blue to make it less institutional, more recognizable."

"We really ask voters to take the time to fill them out," she said. "Don't go in blind."