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March 29, 2024

Voters have their say in, out of polling booths

Election Day Voting at Jo Mackey

Steve Marcus

Delma Brown holds up a sticker after voting at Jo Mackey Magnet Elementary School on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in North Las Vegas.

Updated Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014 | 3:23 p.m.

Election Day Voting at Jo Mackey

Election worker Preston Dagons helps Cornelius and Melvia Sanders as they vote at Jo Mackey Magnet Elementary School on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, in North Las Vegas. Launch slideshow »

Despite a strong campaign against it, a ballot measure to fund public schools by further taxing businesses drew passionate support from some voters on Tuesday.

In exit interviews at various Las Vegas Valley polls, voters on both sides of the margin tax issue expressed strong opinions about it.

“It feels like we’ve always underfunded education, so I hope this will force the hand,” said Lynda Stritof, a 48-year-old Democrat, after voting for the proposal at The Crossing church on West Windmill in the southwest valley.

Ghislaine Dongmo, a Nevada State College nursing student, also wasn’t swayed by the negative campaign.

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Voter Ghislaine Dongmo, 27, outside the Crossing Church polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

“The funds just aren’t going where they should — to schools,” said Dongmo, who also voted at the church. “My sister is in high school, and I’m not at all impressed by the curriculum. The politicians are too busy playing politics and not doing enough about what’s best for the kids, so we (voters) need to step up to the plate.”

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Voter Lynda Stritof, 48, outside the Crossing Church polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

But Barry Dakake, a 44-year-old chef who turned out at the Las Vegas Academy polling place downtown, said his opposition to the margin tax was one of the things that drove him to the polls, along with his support of Gov. Brian Sandoval.

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Voter Terry Sterling, 67, outside a polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

And after casting his votes in Boulder City, Terry Sterling, 67, a retired state building inspector, said he opposed the margin tax because "all those big, bright businesses running up and down Las Vegas Boulevard can contribute a lot more to education than they do."

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Barry Dakake.

Anthony Snowden, interviewed after voting at Jo Mackey Elementary School, said he turned out to oppose the measure because businesses that were hurt during the economic downturn would be further damaged by a new tax.

Snowden, a 54-year-old Democrat, said the race between Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., and Republican challenger Cresent Hardy also drew his interest. But despite Snowden’s party affiliation, he was critical of Horsford, who he said hadn’t done enough to stimulate the local economy and create jobs.

“A lot of people tell me I should vote for him because he’s black and because we’ll lose the seat if he doesn’t win,” Snowden said. “I say we don’t have the seat because he doesn’t respect the district.”

For Rutha Wesley, 22, the Horsford-Hardy race was a key motivation to cast her vote. But she voted for the incumbent Democrat, saying her mother strongly supported Horsford and urged her to do the same.

In the hotly contested race between Clark County sheriff candidates Joe Lombardo and Larry Burns, Curlene Amaro indicated opposition for Lombardo, who has the support of out-going sheriff Doug Gillespie. Amaro, a 62-year-old caregiver who voted at Mackey Elementary, said she believed change was needed in local law enforcement, and Lombardo would represent the status quo.

But for Stritof, Lombardo was the choice because of his image and status as a longtime Metro Police official.

“I just don’t think Burns is, you know, sheriffy,” she said.

Opinions among voters differed from race to race, but a common feeling was that this year’s campaign was disturbingly negative and that the ballot was lackluster.

“All the attack ads, the lying, the mudslinging -- it’s all ugly and counterproductive,” said Kurt Hanson, a 41-year-old Las Vegas investments adviser who voted at Crossings Church. “But what do you do about it? That’s the million-dollar question. So many voters don’t research the issues and candidates. They don’t do their homework. They vote by billboards.”

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Voter Kurt Hanson, 41, outside the Crossing Church polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

Mark Anderson, a welder who voted in Boulder city, is equally cynical: "The way I see it, politicians care more about themselves than for the people." Anderson said he does his own online research rather than rely on campaign material because "if a politician wrote it, it's filled with lies."

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Voter Mark Anderson, outside a polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

Some registered voters are so cynical, they don't cast ballots at all.

Election Day turnout was no more than a trickle early Tuesday in the Las Vegas Valley, as Clark County officials reported that fewer than 35,000 voters had cast ballots as of 10:30 a.m.

At Henderson’s Fire Station 97 on Amador Lane, predictions of low turnout appeared to be accurate.

One election department worker sat doing a puzzle. Another was busy toying with her cell phone. There was just two casting ballots.

The polls had been open for about three hours, but the interest in deciding races for four members of Congress, the sheriff, judges and others was clearly slim. Most of the sign-in sheets used to track voters were empty. So was the parking lot.

About one-quarter of eligible voters cast ballots during early voting, which partially accounts for the lack of traffic on Election Day. But in past elections, more than 60-percent voted early, showing again this midterm election didn’t pique voters’ interest.

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Ralph Billings.

But for Las Vegas residents like Ralph Billings, 76, voting the traditional way was a point of pride. Billings, a retired pit boss, said he’d voted in every election for the past 40 years and turned out to the Las Vegas Academy polling place this year despite the 2014 race being the “dirtiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Boulder City voter Tisha Dennis, 68, a retired accountant, also swallowed her cynicism and cast votes today. "Voting is our voice -- the only one we have," she said.

Many voters complained about being subjected to robocalls, junk mail and and other campaign materials.

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Voter Anna McCann, 35, outside the Crossing Church polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

“My mailbox was full almost every day with campaign material, and hangers were on my door every day, right next to the ‘no soliciting’ sign,” said Anna McCann, controller for Card Player magazine, who voted at the Crossings Church.

McCann, 35, said she kept an open mind on the issues and candidates going into Tuesday.

“I do my own research,” she said. “I go online, read their websites, check their voting records. I know exactly who I’m voting for and why.”

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Voter Josephine Morrill, 79, outside a polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

But while McCann was researching, others were casting votes using other sorts of logic. After Josephine Morrill, 79, voted the Republic ticket in the partisan races, she chose a different criteria in voting for judges: "If I didn't know who they were, then I voted for women, because women make good judges," the Boulder City woman said.

Another Boulder City Republican voter, Brett Bartholomew, a 52-year-old sales representative, said he opposed all three constitutional amendments, which he characterized as loopholes. "It's not a good thing to do, to change the constitution," he said. "It's someone trying to get in through the back door."

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Voter Brett Bartholomew, 52, outside a polling site on Election Day on Nov. 4, 2014.

Among other voters in Boulder City who were interviewed after voting, three said they voted a straight Democratic ticket, including for the man who ran against Sandoval for governor. None of the three knew the name of that Democratic candidate.

Tuesday’s early turnout suggested that tens of thousands of other Las Vegas residents opted to ignore the election.

Asked to sum up the 2014 midterms, Snowden said: “This is the poorest election cycle I’ve seen in the state of Nevada, and I’ve been here since I was 16.”

Las Vegas Sun staffers Tom Gorman, Ian Whitaker and Tovin Lapan contributed to this report.

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