Nevadans finally have their say

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

Five minutes before the polls opened at 7 a.m. today, a solitary voter stood in front of the Clark County Public Administration building polling site on Shadow Lane.

He was no different from the thousands of people who cast ballots during the two-week early voting period that ended Friday or the thousands expected to vote today -- except he is the mayor of the city of Las Vegas.

"I was first in line and the only one in line." Mayor Oscar Goodman said. "I thought there would be more people here this morning. I am surprised."

At other places around the valley, voting was brisk, but the lines moved quickly, Clark County Election Department officials said. Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said all 309 polling places opened on time with no reported problems.

"Early voting definitely is going to alleviate the load," Lomax said. "But we are encouraged because a number of places had lines this morning and the people were able to get in, vote and get out quickly."

Lomax said about 30 people stood in line outside the library at Sahara Avenue and Fort Apache Road waiting for the polls to open. At Hyde Park Junior High School, where eight voting booths were set up, doors opened to a line of about 15 voters.

In Clark County, 167,522 people voted early. That, coupled with the 46,000-plus mail-in ballots, meant that 39 percent of active registered voters cast ballots before polls opened today.

Goodman said that's fine for others. "I'm just an old traditionalist who votes on Election Day."

Goodman joked that he and his wife argued this morning over his choice for president -- not the candidate she voted for during the early voting period.

"We have had a series of friendly spats over this," Goodman said. "Our children also are split over their choice for president."

Goodman would not say whom he or his wife supported.

Ruth Dudley, a Clark County Community College teacher who came to the Public Administration building shortly after the polls opened, made no bones about her choice.

"I'll be real excited if Bush wins," she said. "I was a longtime Democrat. Then I got smart."

Dudley, a Las Vegas resident of 11 years, said she has voted early in the past, but "just didn't get around to it" this time. "I just decided to come in and vote before going to work today."

Jamie Osuzik, the Public Administration polling place team leader, said that while early voting was heavy in Precinct 3119, "we are still expecting a pretty good turnout today. I think early voting is wonderful, because it is so convenient for people. But there will always be a place for Election Day."

On Monday Lomax -- encouraged by the high early voting turnout -- raised his prediction for local voter turnout to 75 percent, from his original forecast of 60 percent to 70 percent. Clark County had a 61 percent turnout for the 1996 presidential election.

However, a good early voting turnout does not necessarily mean a good Election Day turnout, one election expert in Washington, D.C., said.

"What I have found is that since 1990, early voting has hurt overall turnout," Curtis Gans of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate said. "Some of the states that have early voting have performed worse (in overall turnout) than states that don't."

Still, Gans, whose organization monitors voting trends, said that like Nevada, the states of Washington, New Mexico, Connecticut and North Carolina have reported "fairly high" early voting turnouts this year.

The Nevada Secretary of State for Elections predicts a 60 percent statewide turnout of voters.

Las Vegans went to the polls today to not only elect a new president but also select a new U.S. senator for Nevada and consider whether to take the first step to constitutionally outlaw gay marriages in the state.

Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. Bush entered Election Day in a statistical dead heat, according to a number of polls.

Given that Nevada's polls close at 7 p.m., three hours after they close in the heavily populated East, Nevada's four electoral votes could put either candidate over the top in a nip-and-tuck battle.

While there are far more active registered Democrats than Republicans in Clark County -- 249,000 to 213,000 -- statewide, the GOP has the slim edge, 366,431 to 365,593.

With 72,879 Democrats and 72,132 Republicans voting early in Clark County, there exists a much bigger pool of Democrats among those who have yet to exercise their franchise.

If efforts to get those Democrats to the polls today in large numbers are successful, it could affect not only the presidential race, but also tighten the battle for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring two-term Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan.

Republican John Ensign holds a significant lead in the polls -- about 10 percent -- over Democrat Ed Bernstein, a personal injury attorney, in the battle for the six-year post.

Ensign figures to receive much of the strong voter support he got when he ran against Sen. Harry Reid in 1998, losing by a scant 428 votes.

Other matters of interest to Nevada voters include: