Early voting totals lowest in four years

This primary election has seen the lowest early voting totals since the program began, said Clerk-Treasurer Barbara Griffin.

"This is the lowest early-voting turn-out we've ever had," she said.

Early voting is down an estimated 1,000 people from 2006 and about 500 from 2004.

According to Griffin, 3,529 voters cast ballots in the 2006 primary, which featured a hotly contested three-way race between Dean Heller, Sharon Angle and Dawn Gibbons for the Republican nomination to the House of Representatives.

This year there are three Republican primaries and one Democratic primary for Douglas County commission.

Griffin said the number of mail-in ballots has increased over past years with 1,035, but the conversion of Dresslerville to a mail-in precinct may have contributed to that.

Dresslerville lost its polling place after Griffin said she was shorted voting machines for the election.

Under state law, any precinct with fewer than 200 voters may be converted to mail-in ballots.

In the case of Dresslerville, there will be a ballot box at the gym, in addition to ballots residents may mail to the clerk's office.

Griffin said several polling locations have been consolidated this year.

"Four years ago we had 21 polling places, two years ago we had 16 and this year we're down to the dirty dozen," she said.

For the larger polling locations, voters will be processed alphabetically instead of based on precinct.

Bringing their sample ballots, which have a bar code printed on them, will help speed the process.