Initial Nevada primary results begin rolling in

In what is expected to be among the highest voter turnouts for a primary election, Clark County’s 278 polls opened on time at 7 a.m. Tuesday with about 28,580 voters casting ballots by 3 p.m.

Based on early voting numbers which are “higher than we’ve ever seen for a presidential election” year, “I’m expecting the same thing today,” said Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria.

This primary is touted to be one of the busiest in recent memory.

About 76,500 out of nearly 890,000 registered voters in Clark County cast their ballots during early voting compared with 61,000 in 2014 and 56,000 in 2012.

Keller Middle School had a steady turnout of about two to three people voting every five minutes on Tuesday morning, a poll worker said around noon.

Once voters finished, they were cordially addressed with a “thank you and have a good day.”

As she was leaving the school, Myrna Echols said she always votes and added, “It is my right, my responsibility and my pleasure.”

Joseph Cox, 62, said he voted “because it is voting day, and it is important.”

At the Cambridge Recreation Center, about a dozen volunteers wore gray shirts with a “Don’t lose your voice. Vote!” logo. Some of them were reading, some made small talk, and others were focused on their phones.

One poll worker said the recreation center had a low voter turnout, and one of its 12 voting machines was down.

Jerry LeClaire, 45, placed his “I Voted” sticker on the right side of his shirt and said that it is important to vote because, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

David Ahsoon, a native of Hawaii who described himself as “60-something,” said he voted because “important people are running for the Senate and the House, and whoever is replacing (Democratic Sen. Harry) Reid has big shoes to fill.”

Grant Claycomb, a poll worker at Desert Pines High School, said 64 people had voted there as of about 2 p.m.

One of those voters, Flor Gaitan, 34, said education was her primary issue. Gaitan said she didn’t vote for her congressional district’s incumbent, Dina Titus. She added that she would have preferred if Ruben Kihuen, candidate for the 4th congressional district, was running in her district instead.

Raquel Moreno, 26, brought her daughter along as she cast her ballot at a community center off North Bruce Street and East Lake Mead Boulevard.

Moreno joked that her daughter “just came for the sticker.”

Moreno is nonpartisan but said she was considering a switch to the Democratic Party for the general election.

At Shadow Ridge High School in the northwest valley, poll worker David Mills said there had been unusually low turnout. About 10:45 a.m., he pointed to a lone voter and said she was just the 30th so far.

Mills, who has worked the polls there before, said the usual morning rush was absent this year.

“We’re crossing our fingers for a midday and after-work turnout,” he said.

At the Staton Elementary School polling place on the Las Vegas Valley’s west side, Republican Tom Kittrell showed up at 7 a.m. to cast his ballot on his way to work because “it’s my right … and I want to exercise that right.”

Democrat Helen Lombardo said she forgot to vote early so she came when the polling place opened at Staton.

Even though presidential candidates aren’t on the ballot, she said, “I’m going to vote for Hillary (Clinton). I don’t care what anybody says. I will vote for a rat before Donald Trump. The guy is an idiot.”

As David and Tina Powers arrived to vote for Nevada’s Republican candidates several miles south of Staton at the Ober Elementary School polling place, David Powers, 57, said the GOP and Democrat presidential choices are “all bad news.”

“I’m not happy with either candidate,” he said. “I’m not into the theatrics of Trump and I don’t think Hillary is a good choice either. So I wish there was a better option.”

At Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas, Steve Davis, 74, was the first person to vote Tuesday morning.

Davis said he has been voting all his life.

“You’ve got to vote. If you don’t, you don’t have a say,” Davis said.

Beau Popjoy, 20, and his father, Richard Popjoy, 58, voted together at the school.

Beau Popjoy said his biggest issue was money in politics.

“We just can’t have corporations basically buying the elections,” he said.

His father said he was peeved by political posters that he perceived to lack substance. The posters, Richard Popjoy said, “don’t put out anything that they stand for.”

The father-son duo also caucused this year but preferred the process of today’s primary.

Nonpartisan voter Emmett Henry Jr., 41, said education was a major issue for him.

Standing outside Cheyenne, Henry said he was “tired of seeing Nevada ranked last in education.”

Also outside Cheyenne, nonpartisan voter Bob Jacobson, 65, said he wanted the election season to be over.

“I just can’t believe the rhetoric that’s going on,” he said, referring to the myriad of controversial remarks that have come from the Republican presumptive nominee for president, Donald Trump.

“It’s amazing my TV hasn’t gotten the shoe.”

At Bonner Elementary School in Summerlin, a single voter was at a booth casting a ballot at 8:05 a.m. No one was in line as nearly a dozen election workers waited for someone else to help.

Back at the Staton polling place, Democrat Marshal Willick said unlike the 1960s when voters complained the parties were too similar there is a “clear choice, not an echo” in this year’s presidential election, to paraphrase 1964 GOP candidate Barry Goldwater’s slogan.

“I don’t think we have that with this presidential election,” he said, referring to vast differences in the candidates’ stances on issues.

Check out the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s voting guide online at www.reviewjournal.com/voter-guide.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Glenn Cook and Tatiana Villamil contributed to this story. Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2. Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find him on Twitter: @acoreynews