Early voting in Las Vegas municipal primaries ends Friday

This year’s early voting period for municipal elections is on pace to have the second-lowest turnout in the past two decades.

Early voting for municipal primary elections in four Las Vegas Valley cities ends Friday.

City Council seats in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Boulder City are up for grabs. The election also features two mayoral races.

As of Wednesday, fewer than 20,000 people had cast ballots in municipal races, representing about 3.4 percent of active registered voters. This year’s early voting period has experienced a sharp decrease from the 2017 municipal primary, when nearly 28,500 voters cast ballots at the polls before election day.

The lowest municipal election early voter turnout in the past 10 cycles was in 2005, when only about 13,500 people — nearly 3.3 percent of registered voters — cast ballots in the early voting period.

The most active static early voting site in this cycle was Meadows mall, where about 2,500 voters cast ballots as of Wednesday. More than 4,100 voters cast ballots at a mobile vote center that visited multiple temporary sites since early voting began March 16.

This year, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman is seeking her third and final term. In the city’s Ward 1 race, 10 candidates are running to replace term-limited Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian. In Ward 3, seven candidates are running to replace Bob Coffin, who chose not to seek re-election. Among the candidates is former Rep. Ruben Kihuen, who opted not to seek re-election after facing sexual harassment allegations from three women. He faces former Assemblywoman Olivia Diaz, who resigned to run for the council seat.

Five candidates in Henderson are running to replace term-limited Gerri Schroder for the City Council’s Ward 1 seat. Incumbents Dan Shaw and Dan Stewart — representing Ward 2 and Ward 4, respectively — both face challengers for their seats.

Henderson Municipal Court judge Mark Stevens faces one opponent for his seat.

And in North Las Vegas, Ward 4 incumbent Richard Cherchio faces five challengers, including George Warner, a planning commissioner who has the support of Mayor John Lee. Pamela Goynes-Brown, the councilwoman who represents Ward 2, faces one challenger.

In Boulder City, the mayoral and two at-large council seats are up for grabs.

Voters who are registered at an address in Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City or North Las Vegas may cast a ballot at any voting center, even those outside their home city. Several voting sites across the valley will be open until early Friday evening. To find locations, visit www.clarkcountynv.gov/vote.

Registered voters who did not cast a ballot during early voting can still do so on Tuesday, primary election day. Results will be announced after the polls close at 7 p.m.

Information supplied by the candidates can be found at www.reviewjournal.com/voter-guide-2019/.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.