Voting has begun in Douglas County.
Doors open at 5 p.m. today for a Town Hall Debate featuring a dozen candidates for countywide office at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center. The debate begins at 6 p.m.
All six active Republican county commissioner candidates appearing on the primary ballot are scheduled to attend and the debate will be livestreamed at https://youtube.com/live/Azo-4utVqdg?feature=share
The forum is sponsored by the Business Council of Douglas County, the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and The Record-Courier. The newspaper also published its candidates guide today.
The debate is hosted by Business Council Executive Director Renea Louie and moderated by District Judge Tom Gregory, former State Sen. James Settelmeyer and Council Board Chairwoman Bobbi Thompson.
County commissioners Danny Tarkanian and Mark Gardner are defending their seats from challengers Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District Chairman James McKalip and Topaz Ranch Estates General Improvement District trustee Michale Tanner.
North county residents Nathan Tolbert and Janet Frexis are seeking to fill commissioner Walt Nowosad’s seat.
There are also a half-dozen Douglas County School Board candidates scheduled to participate, including Trustee Doug Englekirk and challenger Erinn Miller. Candidates Markus Zinke and Yvonne Wagstaff are unopposed. District 1 nonpartisan commissioner candidate Brian Dempsey is also scheduled to participate.
Voters are already casting the ballots they received in the mail and in-person voting opens 10 a.m. Saturday.
Of the 41,292 ballots mailed to Douglas County residents on May 10, voters had returned 928 as of Friday, according to the Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer Amy Burgans.
“We have 17 that need cures, meaning either the signature doesn’t match or that the envelope was not signed,” Burgans said on Monday. “Though we have started the signature verification process, we will not start deconstructing the ballots (opening the envelope and taking the ballot out for counting) until May 28.”
Voters planning on mailing their ballot are encouraged to do so early in order to ensure their vote is counted.
Those who prefer to vote in person can bring their mailed ballots to the polling place and the clerks will invalidate them.
Voters can still participate if they don’t bring their ballots, but they have to sign an affidavit saying they will destroy it.
