Early voting numbers indicate low turnout

Beth Slovic

Monday, Jan. 24, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.

The final ballots won't be cast until Tuesday, but if the early voting is any indication, a relatively low number of people will determine whether or not Janet Moncrief remains as the Ward 1 representative on the Las Vegas City Council.

During Friday and Saturday's early voting, 2,737 people cast ballots, election officials said. That's about 8 percent of Ward 1's 32,457 registered voters.

Several of the early voters on Friday said they thought Moncrief, a political novice when she won her first race for political office in 2003, deserved a chance to serve out her term. They said the recall was a waste of time and taxpayer money and said they were skeptical of the other candidates' motives.

"Where were they two years ago?" asked Chas Musser, a retired Clark County School District Employee, outside the Meadows mall voting station Friday morning. "They were afraid to take on Michael McDonald," Musser said, referring to Moncrief's opponent in 2003.

Still, other voters said they were eager for change. They said they thought the recent charges against Moncrief for allegedly filing false campaign-finance reports were sufficient motivation to vote for someone new.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire," said Richard O'Connor, a 72-year-old retiree, who has lived in Las Vegas for 43 years.

Moncrief, a nurse who is not affiliated with any political party, is up against Vicki Quinn, a Republican and an activist, and Lois Tarkanian, a Democrat and a former member of the Clark County School Board.

The recall was brought about by a citizens' group that successfully petitioned the city for a new election. Leaders of the group said they were motivated by the campaign-finance allegations against Moncrief and by her failure to block construction on a new Social Security building in her district.

But several of the voters who cast ballots for Moncrief said if Moncrief made any mistakes, they were willing to overlook them because she was still learning.

"I voted for Moncrief because I wanted to give her another chance," Ron Nowak, a 60-year-old retired corrections officer, said Friday outside the Lakes Lutheran Church poll at Sahara Avenue and Cimarron Road.

Pat Daly, a 66-year-old retired teacher, shared Nowak's sentiment.

"I think she's the best qualified; she tried to do a good job," Daly said.

Others weren't so sure and voted in the hopes of electing a new official. In some cases, voters said it did not matter who won, so long as it wasn't Moncrief.

"I voted for change, but I'm ambivalent about who wins," David Thornton said after voting Friday at Meadows mall. "My wife's the same way."

Marilyn McConnell, an "over-65" retiree, agreed that she didn't want Moncrief to win the recall election. "We need a change," McConnell said as she was leaving the mall's voting poll.

Chas Musser, however, worried that bringing in another candidate with no political experience would put Ward 1 residents back at square one. Neither Quinn nor Tarkanian has served in city government.

"This is a lot of money to put another rookie in there that's not going to do anything in their first two years," Musser, 67, who was born and raised in Las Vegas, said. "Every councilman we've ever had in there has had a rough time their first year because they were new in the job."

Polls on Tuesday will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and voters may vote only at their designated polling place. Voters are asked to check the sample ballots they should have received in the mail to see where they should vote.

Because this is a special election, fewer polling stations will be open and voters may not be assigned to their regular location.

Voters with questions can log on to www.lasvegasnevada.gov or call (702) 229-6311.