Some counties to cut early voting short for holiday

By David McGrath Schwartz

Friday, Sept. 17, 2010 | 2 a.m.

It may be only a handful of voters, but in a tight race for U.S. Senate, every one can make a difference.

On the last day of early voting, historically the busiest besides Election Day, a few of the state’s rural counties plan to shut down polling places and many of the rest will operate reduced hours to celebrate Nevada Day, the holiday that marks the state’s entrance into the union.

The state’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Ross Miller, is urging the counties to keep polls open on Oct. 29.

“My job as chief elections officer is to ensure participation,” he said. “We are directing counties that under Nevada law, they have to stay open on Nevada Day.”

The state’s rural counties have been conservative Republican strongholds. Their numbers as a percentage of the state’s population might be small, but they make up for it with inveterate voting, particularly in nonpresidential election cycles when many of their urban cousins become lazy.

A number of polls in recent days have shown the race for U.S. Senate, which pits Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vs. Republican former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, in a statistical tie.

When the polls open on Election Day, Nov. 2, a good chunk of ballots will have been cast.

Early voting begins Oct. 16. That two-week period has typically attracted a large number of voters. In 2008, 57 percent of all votes were cast early.

But that year, rural counties were forced to remain open on the Nevada Day holiday because of the threat of lawsuits, according to election officials.

Miller conceded that he is unsure what action he could or would take if the counties refuse to open polls.

He acknowledged that a different reading of the law could allow counties to decide whether to remain open on holidays and weekends.

That’s the reading by LaCinda Elgan, clerk/treasurer of Esmeralda County.

She said her office will be closed that day.

The small county with just under 600 registered voters has one early polling location, in the county courthouse, which is scheduled to be closed, she said.

Many county residents use mail or absentee ballots; and many use the long weekend to go camping, hunting or take the 2 1/2 hour trip to Wal-Mart or Kmart.

“Being closed that one day is not a big deal,” said Elgan, an elected Republican. “I know a lot of people are going to be gone. It’s a matter of knowing your community.”

Pershing County Clerk/Treasurer Donna Giles also said polls there would be closed on Nevada Day.

She said every year since early voting began in the early 1990s, counties were given the flexibility to close — until 2008. She admitted that a substantial number of voters came in on the last day of early voting that year. But, she said, “All procrastinators will wait ’til the last day to vote.”

According to the secretary of state’s office, Eureka County is undecided; Lyon, Mineral, Elko and Douglas counties will open polls for a few hours.

Clark and Washoe counties, the state’s largest, will have nearly all sites open.

Reid has been in close elections before. In 1998, he defeated John Ensign in the Senate race by 428 votes.

Miller, the secretary of state, is a Democrat. He dismissed questions about whether advocating for rural offices to be open would favor Angle.

“We want to make sure electoral laws are followed,” Miller said. “We want the highest participation possible, regardless of who they will vote for.”

Miller said his office has offered to pay the cost of the offices to be open that day.

Nevada Day celebrates Oct. 31, 1864, when Nevada joined the union. In 1998, voters opted to mark the holiday on the final Friday in October. In 2000, the Legislature passed it into law.