Early voting 'extraordinarily smooth'

The first day of early primary voting kicked off in Carson City Saturday, and turnout easily beat expectations.

Three-hundred and ninety-two people had cast a ballot at the Carson City Courthouse by about 2:30 p.m., which earned 2012 a firm No. 2 spot in first-day turnout for a primary election, second only to 498 votes tallied on Day 1 in 2010. The next-highest first-day turnout was 2006, with 376 votes.

Before checking the tally officially, Carson City Clerk-Record Alan Glover said he expected the numbers to hit about 325, which is what they were in 2008, the nearest presidential election year. He said presidential election years typically have a smaller turnout than non-presidential years because the state constitutional officers aren't on the ballot.

When asked why the turnout was higher than his prediction, he exclaimed: "No idea!" However, he then speculated that maybe it was the contested Board of Supervisors races.

Just outside the parking lot and the no-electioneering postings were vehicles emblazoned with advertisements for supervisor candidates Amy Clemens, hoping for a Ward 4 bid, and Dennis E. Johnson, hoping for Ward 2.

Glover said that the voting was going so smoothly that he joked about wanting something to go wrong just for a little excitement. But so many people were coming in with their sample ballots already completed that any lines moved smoothly.

"The machines are working good, everyone brought their sample ballots in, it's all been running extraordinarily smooth," Glover said.

Glover said that there was a bit of a wait when they opened at 10 a.m. - he counted one voter's wait at 10 minutes - but it quickened after that.

He predicted that Carson City's primary turnout would hit about 30 percent of total voters, double what Secretary of State Ross Miller has as a low-end statewide prediction. Miller predicted about 15 to 20 percent of the state would vote.