Monday, April 7, 2003 | 9:44 a.m.
Sarah Torcaso and her daughter Carla Land usually vote early, but had not intended to do so this election.
A trip to the Galleria at Sunset mall on Friday changed their minds. Torcaso, a 24-year Southern Nevada resident, and Land, a native Southern Nevadan, went to the mall to get Land new eyeglasses. They did not need high-powered lenses to see there were no lines at the early voting station. It was as good a time as any to do their civic duty.
With a small municipal ballot and the convenience of electronic touch machines, they were done in less than 30 seconds. And that was on what was to be the busiest day of early voting, with 3,217 people going to the polls Friday to help set a municipal elections early voting record turnout of 25,415.
With less than 15 percent of the registered voting population expected to cast ballots, Torcaso and Land felt their votes counted even more. About half of that expected turnout already have voted, county officials said.
"You feel a sense of importance," Torcaso said.
Cathy Micklin, a Henderson resident of 20 years, had similar feelings.
"It's hard for people to get excited about a municipal election when there are only three items on the ballot," she said. "I vote no matter what, but a lot of people are not going to vote early or go to the polls on Election Day for so few races. It makes your lone vote count even more."
Bill Pendarvis, team leader at the Galleria voting site, said Friday that things "had picked up a little bit -- it's better than it has been."
At day's end 394 Henderson residents had voted at the Galleria. The second busiest day there was March 22, opening day of early voting, when 315 people cast ballots.
The busiest single site was the Meadows mall, with 4,659 ballots cast, 639 of them on Friday.
Laurie Mullins, a Henderson resident since 1992, and Joel Jessel, a Southern Nevada resident of 35 years, said they always vote early for convenience. They lament that more people do not vote -- either early or on Election Day.
"We have to get more people involved in voting," Mullins said.
Assistant Registrar of Voters Donna Cardinelli said that despite the polls being slow compared with years when there are county, state and national elections, the early voting turnout was encouraging.
"We are pleased with the numbers -- going into the last day, we were 6,000 ahead of 2001 (the last municipal election) primary," she said. "It's difficult to tell, however, whether this will encourage a bigger turnout for Election Day."
Polls open 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m.
This year's early primary voting total broke the municipal election early voting record of 19,956 that was set in the 1999 primary. It far outdistanced the 2001 primary total of 16,481. As expected, it came nowhere close to the overall early voting record of 167,522 set in the 2000 general election.
There are 571,125 registered voters in Clark County, but only those living in the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite will be permitted to vote Tuesday. There are no races in unincorporated Clark County.
In the June general election there will be a countywide library bond ballot question on which Clark County residents will vote. That will mean a single-ballot issue for many, including residents of some municipalities should candidates win in the primary. Candidates need only to collect 50 percent plus one vote -- a majority -- to capture a seat and avoid a general election runoff.
In Las Vegas, Mayor Oscar Goodman faces challenges from five opponents. Ward 1 Councilman Michael McDonald is challenged by three. Ward 3 Councilman Gary Reese faces two challengers, as does Ward 5 Councilman Lawrence Weekly. There also are two municipal judge races.
In Henderson, Ward 1 Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers is challenged by two opponents. Ward 2 Councilman Andy Hafen faces three. The Municipal Court race between incumbent John Provost and Douglas Hedger figures to be one of the closest races in Southern Nevada.
In North Las Vegas, Ward 2 Councilman William Robinson is challenged by two opponents. Ward 4 Councilwoman Shari Buck faces three.
In Boulder City, Mayor Bob Ferraro has two challengers. Seven people are running for two City Council seats, including incumbent Bryan Nix. Appointed Councilman Doug Scheppmann is not running.
In Mesquite, four candidates are vying for mayor, and 13 candidates are facing off for four council seats.
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