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Home  In The Media Conservative Washoe County takes liberal turn in a hot election year
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Conservative Washoe County takes liberal turn in a hot election year |
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 by Jessica Garcia
As today brings a close to mailing in voter registration forms for the Aug. 12 primary, Washoe County residents are turning away from their traditional Republican values and declaring themselves Democrats.
As of July 3, the Washoe County Registrar of Voters office shows a
total of 206,699 active voters with 80,476 Democrats, 86,274
Republicans and 39,949 members of the Independent and minor parties,
registrar Dan Burk said.
That’s a major departure from just two years ago.
“If you go back to where we were in the 2006 election, at this same
time two years ago almost to the day, the difference then was we had
186,484 voters registered,” Burk said. “We had 66,667 Democrats and
83,442 Republicans.”
This year, which includes a key presidential race, with the Democratic
caucus on Jan. 19, the liberal party recruited thousands of voters in
the county in one easy swoop, all because they offered an option the
Republicans didn’t.
It’s a move that’s staggered the staff of the Registrar’s office.
“It’s pretty clear that there has been a shift here in Washoe County,” Burk said. “That mirrors what’s happening in the state.”
He said it’s hard to tell if the trend will continue until November.
“It’s quite unusual,” he said.
With increasing interest in politics and voting, more people are taking
advantage of other convenient methods of submitting their votes. Burk
said about 20 percent of all voters vote by absentee ballot in any
typical election.
Early voting has also surprised the office staff, Burk said.
“The voters who have been surprising are people who go to early
voting,” he said. “We got less than 2,000 (early voters) in 2000. In
2006, we had over 42,000.”
Burk called it a “huge shift,” which he attributed to the convenience of going to the polls at any time and anywhere, he said.
“Nobody likes to stand in long lines,” he said.
Today, residents wanting to register for the primary by mail have until
the end of today to do so. Forms can be picked up from all libraries,
most post offices, some grocery stores and other agencies, including
the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Registrar of Voters. KOH radio
station also has had forms available at its booth at local farmer’s
markets, Burk said.
But even if a voter can’t submit their form today, they can still turn
it in person only to the registrar’s office until July 22, at which
time registration closes for the primaries, Burk said.
“This has been one of the lightest (primary) registrations we’ve ever
seen and that’s been surprising to us,” Burk said. “We’ll increase our
numbers 5 to 6 percent as soon as the primary’s over. People will
really get going and there will be an interest after Labor Day and by
that time, the Democratic and Republican national conventions will be
finishing up and there will be a huge push in registration.”
Sample ballots will be mailed starting July 21 or 22, he said.
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