Early voting up, but only slightly

Lee Scrivner

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

The first weekend of early voting in the Las Vegas Valley for the primary election failed to meet expectations.

Only 4,998 votes were cast Saturday and Sunday, which is up slightly from the 4,966 votes cast over the same weekend in the '98 election.

But election officials were expecting much more.

"We were expecting a substantial increase from the '98 primary figures, because we have had over 60,000 more voters registered in Clark County since then," Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said. "But for the opening weekend we only had a total of 32 more votes than last election's opening figures.

Early voting booths for the primary are available through Sept. 5 at the Boulevard, Fashion Show, Galleria, Meadows and Belz malls, as well as the County Government Center, Las Vegas Athletic Club and six mobile stations that are visiting senior and community centers, grocery stores and other locations throughout the county.

"Theoretically, this should increase turnout among Clark County's 615,000 registered voters," Lomax said.

The Meadows Mall was the most popular early voting site, with 913 ballots cast over the two days. The County Government Center had the lowest weekend turnout, with only 44 ballots. Those voting booths were closed on Sunday. All other sites are open seven days a week.

The six mobile sites gathered 2,101 votes over the two days.

Even if they are not turning out to cast their ballots early, there are more registered voters this month. The Secretary of State's office reported Monday that 7,047 new voters joined the rolls in Clark County in July over the previous month. Some 610,681 residents of Clark County were registered as of July 31.

Statewide, the number of voters grew 10,000, to 941,031. The number of Democrats barely leads the number of Republicans 389,504 to 388,166.

For more information on voter registration or polling times, call the Clark County Elections Department at (702) 455-8683. Locations of the mobile sites can be found on the web at co.clark.nv.us/election/Mobile] team]sched.htm.