Turnout light as early voting begins

By Cy Ryan

Saturday, May 22, 2010 | 5:20 p.m.

CARSON CITY – When early voting opened Saturday morning for next month's primary election, there were lines in many of Nevada's counties of voters waiting to cast their ballots.

But the surge slackened off.

In Clark County, where there are 1,060,522 registered to vote, only 4,133 had cast ballots by 2 p.m. , which was four hours after early voting polls opened.

Matt Griffin, deputy secretary of state in charge of elections said after the 10 a.m. opening that it’s “been pretty quiet. . . . There has been no indication of problems.”

Early voting usually draws 20-25 percent of those registered to vote. Griffin predicts a close to 30 percent turnout in the Republican primary election.

The race for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate and for governor has drawn the most interest.

Gov. Jim Gibbons, who has been a controversial figure, is, according to polls, trailing former U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval of Reno. If the polls hold true, Gibbons would be the first sitting governor to be defeated in a primary election.

Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid has only token opposition in the Democratic primary for governor.

Republicans have conducted a spirited campaign for the nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Former state Senator and Las Vegas businesswoman Sue Lowden is fighting it out with former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle of Reno and Danny Tarkanian of Las Vegas to win the primary to go up against Reid in November.

Candidates are still making the rounds trying to pile up votes. Early voting continues until June 4 and primary election day is June 8.