Slow but steady stream of early voters turns out

David Kihara

Monday, March 21, 2005 | 11:30 a.m.

Henderson early voting continues through April 1. The days, hours and locations are:

Early voting will also take place on these days at these locations:

Sun City at Anthem, 2450 Hampton Road, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Food 4 Less, 260 E. Lake Mead Drive, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Paseo Verde Library, 280 South Green Valley Parkway, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Albertsons, 575 College Drive, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Albertsons, 2650 Horizon Ridge Parkway, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Desert Willow Community Center, 2020 West Horizon Ridge Parkway, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Phyllis Rose wasn't discouraged by predictions that the voter turnout would be low for the 2005 municipal elections.

On Sunday, the 52-year-old casino worker took advantage of early voting and cast her ballot in the Las Vegas municipal election at the Meadows mall. A small but steady trickle of voters in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Mesquite joined Rose during the weekend and cast ballots early for the primaries in the various races in those cities.

Boulder City, which is also holding an election for two open city council seats, is not holding a primary.

"I came to vote early so I don't have to worry about it on election day," Rose said.

Another voter who took advantage of the early voting, Steve Brown, 48, said he considers it his civic duty to vote, no matter that there were only a couple of races in which he was eligible to cast a ballot for the 2005 municipal election in Las Vegas.

"I voted early out of convenience and because of my work schedule," said Brown, a surveyor for the Union Pacific Railroad.

A total of 1,436 people cast ballots during the weekend, Larry Lomax, Clark County registrar of voters, said this morning.

Elsa Garcia, the team leader of the Meadows Mall voting station, said that a total of 188 voters had cast their ballots on Saturday, and another 92 had voted by 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Because the scale of the municipal election doesn't compare to that of the recent presidential and county election, she said that only five voting machines were necessary for this early voting period.

"The local election just doesn't generate the interest (compared with previous elections), and the ballot is so short," she said.

The weekends are generally the busiest time for early voting, she said, but added that "I severely doubt it will pick up."

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, who is running for re-election in the Henderson race, said on Sunday that he was pleased with initial reports that 545 people had cast their ballots already in the Henderson mayoral race.

"People need to come out and vote, and we have made it as convenient as possible," he said. "Hopefully, people will take the time to vote."

Mary Gillins, one of 11 candidates running for the open city council seat in Ward 6 left open when Councilman Michael Mack declared he would not run for re-election, spent the weekend campaigning.

When contacted on Sunday, Gillins, a legal assistant and operations manager for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and a Republican, was placing campaign signs in people's yards.

"Saturday was so cold, and it is so much better on Sunday," Gillins said.

"I hope people in Ward 6 are as concerned as I am about this community," she said. "I think it's all our duty to vote."

One of her opponents, Steve Ross, also hoped people turned out to vote but realized that concern for the election was likely to be low.

"Being an off year, voter turnout is expected to be low," said Ross, a Democrat and the general manager of Keleeco Electric.

Felix Owens, 76, wasn't going to be one of the people left out of the decision-making process however. He said voting is such a simple act that he was happy to cast his ballot at the Meadows mall on Sunday.

"I usually vote early. It's a habit," he said.