Municipal nail-biters

Southern Nevada's municipal elections routinely are decided by a handful of votes -- the off-year campaigns have long been plagued by public apathy and low turnout, making races won by just a few hundred ballots seem like blowouts.

But Tuesday's elections featured two of the tightest votes in recent local history, no matter that turnout met officials' low expectations. The drama of that night's returns was an excellent reminder to citizens that, yes, every single vote counts.

Tuesday's biggest thriller was the Las Vegas City Council Ward 4 runoff between university Regent Stavros Anthony and Las Vegas Planning Commissioner Glenn Trowbridge. After trailing Mr. Trowbridge all night, Mr. Anthony, a Las Vegas policeman, found himself ahead by 10 ballots once all precincts had reported, 3,309 votes to 3,299.

Meanwhile, across town, Henderson's mayoral runoff was just as close. In the race between two longtime councilmen, Andy Hafen finished with 45 more votes than Steve Kirk from the 19,355 ballots cast.

About two-tenths of a percentage point decided each contest.

Unlike some states, Nevada does not mandate recounts of exceptionally close votes. If Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Kirk want their ballots recounted, they first must wait until the votes are canvassed and made official, then they have three days to provide checks to cover the recount costs. On Tuesday night, Mr. Trowbridge seemed eager to take a second look at the votes; Mr. Kirk said "it's not off the table." It's appropriate to ask the loser, rather than the taxpayer, to pay for a recount.

Considering Nevada is plagued by gerrymandering and other incumbent protection schemes, we only wish there were more campaigns as competitive as these.

Is it safe to say Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Kirk had enough supporters in their cities to swing Tuesday's unofficial results their way, if only those folks had bothered to vote? Absolutely.

It's a lesson that every voter should remember for next year's campaigns.