Pending ballot issue on Laughlin incorporation proves confusing, costly

Clark County officials are hustling to put together election information in the next three weeks about the potential incorporation of Laughlin.

The state Legislative Commission voted to include the issue on the June 12 primary ballot. At that same time, Laughlin residents also will vote for four City Council candidates and one mayoral candidate.

Earlier this year, state officials had deferred sending the incorporation issue to a vote to the County Commission, which denied ballot access, citing financial feasibility. The matter appeared again before the Legislative Commission last week, which approved the ballot issue with restrictions.

The delay caused election officials to miss deadlines set in Senate Bill 262, which essentially provides Laughlin with a city charter and spells out ballot language for the proposal.

Larry Lomax, Clark County's registrar of voters, said a special election allowing more time for voters to receive information cannot be held, according to a time frame set by the bill.

"It may confuse some people," Lomax said Wednesday. "They're voting for candidates, and they're voting at the same time whether or not they'll have the city. So if the vote is negative, we'll still release the results for candidates, but they'll be meaningless."

About 3,000 registered voters live in the town about 100 miles south of Las Vegas.

Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak, whose district includes Laughlin, expressed concerns that the timing to get information to voters is too short.

"I'm worried we might miss something," he said Wednesday.

Sisolak added that the Legislature exposed the state to legal challenges because candidates who lose could complain about the shortened process.

"Anybody can go to court and claim this is a violation because we're not following this exactly," Sisolak said. "Some of this simply cannot happen as it's written. You can't require that the candidate live within boundaries of the city when there is no city. It doesn't say proposed boundaries of the city."

David Floodman, president of the nonprofit Laughlin Economic Development Corporation, which supports incorporation, said the law provides the proposed city with "a common understanding of the language."

"I think the Legislative Commission finally did the right thing last week. People in Laughlin are very excited about the opportunity to vote now," Floodman said. "I don't think the public has been underinformed on this issue or that it's difficult for candidates wishing to run to reach out to everybody in the community in a very short time frame."

Lomax said his department is incurring thousands of dollars of election-related costs to advertise how to file for candidacy and recruit committee members to draft ballot language explaining arguments for and against incorporation that will appear alongside the question proposing a new city.

Those informational ads are slated to appear in Sunday's Nevada section of the Review-Journal.

"When we have to scramble around like this, there are costs," Lomax said, noting overtime costs caused by a week delay in programming voting machines until Laughlin election information is finalized.

Candidate filing runs through April 25. Hopefuls will have to make the four-hour, 200-mile round trip from Laughlin to the county's election department in North Las Vegas to file for the nonpartisan races in person.

Early voting for the primary runs May 26 through June 8.

If fewer than three people run for a seat, there is no primary, and candidates will appear on the general election ballot in November. If there are three or more in any contest, those names will appear on the primary ballot, with the top two vote-getters heading to the general election should voters pass the incorporation proposal, Lomax said.

But legislators next year could veto whether a city can be formed, even if voters approve it. The state Legislative Commission gave the 2013 Legislature the option to repeal the charter if it determines the city isn't financially solvent or to delay incorporation from the July 1, 2013, target date.

State officials also said residents need to understand the proposal could lead to a tax increase and cuts in services to compensate for projected immediate budget shortfalls should voters choose to make the town a city. Some of the initial incorporation costs would be absorbed by a $12 million fund that already pays for the town's capital equipment uses.

Contact reporter Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.