Early voting kicks off in the Las Vegas Valley

A trackless train rolled past one of the many Clark County voting stations opened Saturday as early voting kicked off in the Las Vegas Valley.

A poll worker subtly waved an American flag while her colleague’s infectious voice stood out in the Galleria At Sunset mall: “Come on down!”

It’s not clear how many of the county’s 1,433,015 voters registered as of this week will take advantage of the two-week early voting window in the leadup the June 11 primary, but locals the Las Vegas Review-Journal spoke to touted the convenience of not having to wait in line Election Day.

Anticipating ‘a good change’

A voter said the date is not promised.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be alive tomorrow,” Richard Leavitt said from an east Las Vegas polling station.

“We studied all of our candidates,” his wife, Carolyn Leavitt added. “We are excited to see a change: a good change because we need people who are fiscally responsible and who believe ‘America first.’”

Richard Leavitt said he’s been casting his ballot early since the option became available.

“I’d say it’s more important than you realize,” Carolyn Leavitt said about the citizenship duty.

Forrest Perkins pulled up to the same location in a bicycle.

“I always like to vote where there are not a whole lot of long lines,” Perkins said. “I could be in there and think about it and not have anybody pushing me; hurrying me up.”

Perkins said the election workers were pleasant, offered to help and stressed that there was no rush.

Not voting would make Perkins “feel guilty.”

“There are so many people who died trying to vote and I just feel bad not to make some kind of effort because people have died for that privilege.”

Randall Freeman and his wife had already chosen their candidates before they drove to drop off their mail-in ballots.

Asked why they decided to vote early, Freeman said, “so I don’t have to stand in line later.”

The 62-year-old man was born and raised in Las Vegas and said it was important to get his “opinions registered.”

He said other locals should also make their vote count.

“It’s great, it’s easy, simple,” Freeman said. “I’m gonna drop them off and that’s gonna be even simpler.”

The couple was in and out in a few seconds.

‘Get ‘er done’

The primary election will narrow down General Election matchups. Voters in the city of Las Vegas could, for example, decide their next mayor outright if one of 15 registered candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote.

North Las Vegas residents this primary will determine if they want to grant 30-year extensions to already-existing property taxes that fund public safety and public works.

The outcome won’t translate to any change in future tax bills, Councilman Scott Black reiterated this week.

Early voting closes June 7, and Election Day takes place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. four days later.

A list of polling stations can be found here. The sites include long-term sites with 10 to 30 voting machines, and neighborhood sites with six to 16 machines, according to the county.

Eligible residents who haven’t registered to vote can register onsite and cast their ballot that day after showing Nevada identification with their current address.

“Get ‘er done,” Leavitt succinctly said.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.