Nevada vote goes smoothly

While voters in some Eastern and Midwestern states had problems with their new electronic voting machines, Election Day went smoothly in Nevada.

Ellick Hsu, elections deputy for Secretary of State Dean Heller, said Nevada election officials and voters had an advantage over many of those states because this isn't Nevada's first experience with the electronic system.

In fact, this is the fourth election in which Nevadans have voted using the Sequoia Voting Systems machines.

Hsu said the system has been used in Clark County since the 1990s but was rolled out statewide in the 2004 primary.

"This is our fourth go-around," he said.

In Carson City

There wasn't a cloud in the sky early Tuesday afternoon as voters drove around and around the busy parking lot at the Carson City Community Center, where people living in 14 of the city's 26 election precincts cast their ballots.

Several had negative campaigning on their minds.

Justin Wass, 25, of Carson City said he can't stand negative politics. When one candidate says something bad about the other it's "one of the biggest turnoffs."

"Why would you want to vote for that person?" he asked.

Wass, who has been voting since he was old enough to register, said he had a high school government teacher who instilled the importance of voting.

"I love to come and vote. It's my chance to give back," Wass said. "If you don't vote, you can't whine about how things go."

Wass was interested in the two state smoking initiatives, Questions 4 and 5. He said he chose Question 5 because it's tougher and that he's concerned about smoking in public places because he's a "soon-to-be-father."

He works with young people at the local Boys & Girls Club, too. All of the adults there emphasize the importance of not smoking, but the task is more difficult when "all the adults" are doing it whenever they go on a field trip, he said.

Tammy Lubich, 46, also votes regularly, and prefers to wait until Election Day because she wants to have all the information available before making her choices.

"I keep re-reading, verifying information until it's time to vote," Lubich said.

She is bothered by the high number of "mudslinging ads" on television. There are so many, "it's ridiculous," she said.

Lubich has a solution that might curb the number of attack ads: Mudslingers would be removed from the ballot. She also suggested the ballot option "none of these" be available more often. Nevada's gubernatorial campaign is an example where the option proved tempting, she said.

"Titus-Gibbons (campaign) was the worst," Lubich said.

The smaller political party candidates don't get the same opportunities for exposure as the Republicans and Democrats with the system the way it is and "aren't allowed to put themselves out there," she added.

Some small problems in Dayton

State elections deputy Hsu said the only reports of any problems his office had received were from Lyon County where a dozen machines could not be properly started up for voters.

"We're not sure if it was poll worker training or hardware issues," Hsu said. "But the rest of the state, we haven't heard any reports of serious problems."

"It hasn't been a problem," said Lyon County Clerk Nikki Bryan. "They had a problem with a printer and with a screen, but it hasn't slowed voting at all.

Bryan said there were no plans to request an extension of voting hours.

Poll workers are encountering a large turnout in both Dayton and Mound House. One worker in Mound House said that by 4 p.m., before the after-work rush, more than one-third of registered voters in the precinct had already voted.

Poll workers put out chairs at the Mound House Fire Station where voting took place, so voters wouldn't have to stand and wait.

Some Dayton residents came to the Dayton Community Center and found that it was not the correct place for them to vote. Because of an error on sample ballots, Lyon County officials had to send letters informing voters of the error and correcting the information. Those that didn't get or read the letter often found themselves at the wrong place.

"It was better last time when I voted at Sutro Elementary," Bob Hastings said. "A lot of people are going to the wrong places."

• Reporters Terri Harber and Karen Woodmansee contributed to this report.