New voting chief looking for smooth balloting in mayor’s race

Monday, May 3, 1999 | 9:01 a.m.

A new registrar of voters, Harvard "Larry" Lomax, will be going through his first election night, trying to make things as smooth for himself as well as the candidates.

Lomax is following a registrar whose first election was a near disaster but rebounded to earn praise for installing a smooth system that includes electronic voting machines.

The tumultuous elections of 1996, when waiting times at polling places were so lengthy that the mayor of Las Vegas cut in line, shined a brutal spotlight on then-Registrar Kathryn Ferguson.

"You haven't seen me seeking any publicity, have you?" Lomax chuckled. "All I want is for the election to go smoothly."

After a 30-year Air Force career in which he served six years working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the 54-year-old retired colonel wants to remain below the public's radar in his new post.

So far, so good. The crowd of conspiracy theorists who once loudly insisted the Sequoia Pacific voting machines were rigged have made little noise this year.

Campaign advertisements for Las Vegas mayoral hopeful Frank LaSpina that question the machines have failed to incite many suspicious calls, Lomax said. The most significant challenge for Lomax is explaining to irate callers who live outside city limits why they cannot vote.

Residents in unincorporated Clark County do not have any races to vote in because this election is only for municipal offices. Early voting ended Friday without any significant glitches, and few voters at the Meadows mall last week could name Lomax.

Nearly 20,000 people voted before Election Day, drawn by nine candidates running for the mayor's post being vacated by Jan Jones.

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