Early voting for heated Ward 1 race low

Monday, June 2, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

Despite what many perceive to be an intense race between an embattled incumbent and a political newcomer in Las Vegas City Council Ward 1, early voting in the ward was poor, officials said.

"It's really low for what is considered a hot race," said Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax. "The 3,012 Ward 1 early voters represents 10.4 percent of the 28,851 people registered to vote in that ward.

"Still, I'm predicting a 25-30 percent overall turnout for that race," Lomax added.

In the primary election last month, Janet Moncrief, a critical care nurse, collected 48 percent of the Ward 1 vote while Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald received 44 percent. McDonald has survived ethics violation battles in prior elections and his name came up in the recent FBI raids of strip clubs in an investigation of political corruption.

Election Day polls open 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m. Lomax is projecting an overall countywide turnout of about 10 percent.

The two-week early voting period ended Friday with 19,743 people casting ballots -- 4.5 percent of Clark County's active registered voters. Friday was the busiest day with 2,196 votes cast.

In Boulder City and Mesquite, where there are council races and mayoral elections, the early voting turnout was strong, Lomax said. Boulder city had 2,603 votes cast, which is 27.5 percent, and Mesquite had 1,811 early votes cast, or 36.2 percent.

Lomax projects overall turnouts of greater than 50 percent in both of those cities.

Las Vegas, which also has two municipal judge races, had just a 5.9 percent turnout for early voting, Lomax said.

Clark County, which has just the $50.6 million Las Vegas-Clark County Library District bond initiative to build four new libraries, had just a 3.9 percent turnout, Lomax said.

The early voting turnout at Las Vegas voting sites included 5,791 ballots cast at mobile sites, 5,085 at the Meadows Mall, 3,831 at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District and 622 at Las Vegas City Hall.

Key races Tuesday include: