Special election not expected to pose too many problems

Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover said Thursday he expects a 40 percent voter turnout for the Sept. 13 special election to fill Dean Heller's congressional seat.

"I'm predicting 10,000 voters, and about half of them will vote early," Glover told the board of supervisors.

The deviation from the normal procedure for elections is that there will be less time to vote on the Saturdays of early voting since polls will be open only from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. rather than until 6 p.m.

"This reduces the costs and that's the goal of clerks and registrars throughout the state," Glover said. "We get very few people after 2 anyway."

The other difference voters will need to keep in mind is that there will be only one polling place on election day - the courthouse at 885 E. Musser St. the Fuji Park Exhibit Hall will not be utilized.

Although this could cause a slight problem, Glover said he believes that because there is only one item on the ballot, the process will be extremely quick.

"People will be able to vote in about a minute, so the turnaround of people in the parking lot will be a lot quicker," he said.

While Glover expects the voting process to be smooth, city and counties throughout the state could face a tight turnaround with ballots that need to go to print by July 1.

Carson District Judge Todd Russell rejected Secretary of State Ross Miller's plan Thursday allowing any and all members of the two major parties to run in the race.

The GOP had sued, arguing that a free-for-all approach illegally sidesteps the major party's nominating process, giving them no say in the Sept. 13 election.

Also on Thursday, Russell called off the three-day filing period set May 23-25 which was set by Miller, giving the major parties until June 30 to name their candidates, but leaving counties less time to prepare ballots for printing.

"We don't want to do anything until we know who all the candidates are," Glover said.

Weekday early voting will be from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Aug. 29-Sept. 2 and Sept. 6-9. Saturday early voting will be from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Aug. 27 and Sept. 3.

Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed Heller to the U.S. Senate seat vacated when John Ensign resigned.

The special statewide election is expected to cost $1.3 million. Glover said he is hoping the state will reimburse the counties, but he doesn't know what state account those funds would come from.

Supervisor Shelly Aldean suggested that it might come out of "the wishful thinking account."

Also on Thursday, supervisors approved a slight raise for Election Board and early voting workers.

"It is still woefully low," he said. "We hire some very good people who are used to earning $18-20 an hour."