Municipal elections on Tuesday

Monday, June 6, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.

Voters in four area cities will go to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in races for City Council and Municipal Court judge.

The polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City.

Two weeks of early voting ended on Friday and turnout has been light, except in Boulder City where 26 percent of registered voters had cast ballots, according to figures compiled by the Clark County Election Department.

With heavy voting in the last three days, North Las Vegas ended up with a early voting turnout of 6.8 percent, followed by 5.4 percent in Las Vegas and 3.2 percent in Henderson.

In the April primary, 7.4 percent of Clark County voters went to the polls. Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said that turnout will be exceeded in the general election, but the limited number of races on the ballot and some voter disdain in Las Vegas may hold down the total.

Lomax said some voters have taken the unusual step of contacting his office, asking how they can lodge a protest vote in the race for the Ward 6 seat on the Las Vegas City Council between Steve Ross and Mary Gillins. Both are seeking to replace Michael Mack, who is not running for re-election, and the campaigning has been negative.

"I think that might be holding down the turnout," Lomax said. "The people are fed up with nasty campaigning going on, apparently at least in the eyes of the people talking to me."

Some voters would like to cast a "none of the above" ballot, but that is not an option for municipal races, Lomax said. A bill allowing that in local races died in the Legislature, he said.

Other voters want to get credit for showing up to vote without actually choosing either Ross or Gillins, he said. Since there is only one race in Las Vegas, the touch screen voting system at polling places won't record a ballot unless a vote is cast, Lomax said.

Lomax said it won't help turnout either that newspapers like the Sun haven't endorsed either candidate.

"That fact alone may hold some people back," Lomax said. "It doesn't seem that either one of these candidates have caught on in Ward 6."

Through Friday, 2,846 people out of 52,555 active registered voters have cast ballots in the Ward 6 race, a turnout of 5.4 percent.

Lomax said the rule of thumb in gauging turnout is double the early voting and add a few percentage points.

Boulder City saw 2,690 votes cast out of 10,323 active registered voters.

Boulder City residents are going to the polls in large numbers to vote on the race for City Council in which two incumbents, Mike Pacini and Andrea Anderson, are being challenged by Jeremy Lilly and Bradley Farmer. The driving force behind the race is a measure on the ballot, supported by the two incumbents, for the city to sell 46.5 acres near the Boulder Creek Golf Course to pay for the city's $22 million debt for building the course. A similar measure failed in November.

Boulder City residents will also decide on whether to fund a proposed $1.5 million animal shelter.

North Las Vegas has the second highest turnout in the area at 6.8 percent of 55,914 registered voters, but it's the lone city with a mayoral race on the ballot. After a slow start, interest in the race picked up with 2,037 of the 3,834 total votes cast in the last three days. Voting started May 18 in North Las Vegas and May 21 in other cities.

Incumbent Mike Montandon, who has raised more than $670,000 since 2002, is squaring off against Andres Ramirez in a race that has seen the two candidates sniping with each other over missing signs, domain names ethics, and Montandon's unwillingess to debate.

Ramirez, a Democratic activist, has the backing of the state Democratic Party, which has spent money on his behalf.

North Las Vegas residents will also cast votes in two other races. Incumbent Stephanie Smith will face Jean Withers for the City Council. With the creation of a second Municipal Court, voters will essentially decide whether the new judge should be an attorney, which is required in Las Vegas and Henderson. Attorney Sean Hoeffgen is squaring off against child care center owner Willia Chaney.

Henderson, not surprisingly, had the lowest turnout at 3.2 percent because it only has one race on the ballot, Lomax said. That race for a newly created Municipal Court judge features former Henderson prosecutor Diana Hampton against Judge Pro Tem Michael Miller.

Hampton has the support of Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers, while Miller has the backing of Mayor Jim Gibson. Gibson won re-election in April.

Henderson had 3,932 votes cast out of 119,739 registered voters.