Vol. 3, No. 18
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July 15, 2006
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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Sample Ballots Coming Your Way Soon As Early Voting Begins July 29
Watch For Changes At Polling Places And Increased Security As Well
Some are saying it's impossible that it has been two years since we did all this, but early voting is getting under way July 29, sample ballots are being mailed as you read this, and August 15, the actual Primary Election date is just a few quick weeks away. My how time flies. Those candidates with primary opponents are scrambling all over the state, knocking on doors, hustling votes at service club meetings, and most dastardly, phoning with recorded messages at all hours of the day and night.
There are no estimates floating about as to how large or small the turnout might be, but since early voting began in the Silver State, voting numbers have increased, and there are some very big fights underway for statewide and congressional offices. The Democratic candidates looking to sit in the governor's chair are hammering each other, charging finance law violations, challenging each other on personal and political ethics, even suggesting that favoritism is rampant with those that make campaign donations.
On the Republican side of the matter, Bob Beers is cheered by the number of people that signed the TASC petition that he has been shepherding through the state. Some say that he is now a viable candidate and that Jim Gibbons should get off his duff and start making himself more known to all the new people in the state. Gibbons has been leading in all the polls, both for the primary and for the general election. The TASC petition was turned in with more than twice the 84,000 signatures needed, and although there are legal questions to be answered regarding the petition, the large number of signatures should be a reflection of some kind on Beers and his candidacy.
As we go to press the Secretary of State has not made a decision on whether to place the TASC proposal on the General Election ballot in November. It has been noted that there is a discrepancy between the petition as filed with the Secretary of State and the papers that were offered for signatures. Some say the differences are minimal, others say it would make a considerable difference in how the state's budget would be determined.
Regardless of which way Secretary Heller goes, the action will more than likely bring on a lawsuit. The state's AFL-CIO unions are against the measure and say if Heller places the measure on November's ballot they will file suit to stop the action. Senator Bob Beers says he too will file suit if Heller decides not to place the measure on the ballot.
Union representatives are also saying that as many as 40 percent of the signatures on the ballots turned in by Beers' forces are invalid. The TASC petition was circulated by a professional petition distributing company, which stands by its count.
The Second Congressional District Republican Primary is one that is generating heated debate, cries of mud slinging, and questionable statements from some of the candidates. In the latest polls, former Assemblywoman Dawn Gibbons is leading the charge with Assemblywoman Sharron Angle and Secretary of State Dean Heller trailing, but not by large numbers.
Angle is smarting over not having her property tax initiative accepted by those that could have signed her petition. TASC overshadowed the Angle proposition but Angle says she will bring it back again in two years. Meanwhile Angle's supporters are hammering on Heller, and to a lesser degree, Gibbons. The polls seem to suggest that a large segment of the voting population has not made up its mind as yet and they could sway the final figures.
There is just a tiny bit of controversy beginning to show up in the race for Lieutenant Governor. It seems that Brian Krolicki is being charged with using state funds to publish a brochure promoting a treasurer's office partnership with a college savings fund. Krolicki's opponent in the Republican Primary, Barbara Lee Woollen says it is dishonest. Krolicki retorts, there was no state money involved. The flier in question was paid for out of fees paid into the program.
Washoe County is putting barcodes on the sample ballots this year, and has purchased a set of instruments that will read and verify the voter at the election polls. According to a report from Dan Burk, Washoe County Registrar of Voters, "The scanners will be connected directly to a laptop computer that is loaded with the voter registration database." Burk believes this will save considerable time at the polls and also be a security check. "This will bring up the voter's record without any typing," he said, "and allow the poll worker to identify the voter."
Burk will have the scanners in operation during early voting and on Primary Election Day he said. The scanners from Symbol Company cost more than $76,000. Burk said when the scanner reads the barcode it activates the ballot card and marks the system that the voter has cast a ballot. Burk says he is still short of poll workers and there's still time to sign up.
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