With polls closed and mail-in ballots counted, Carson City had 35 percent voter turnout for the 2022 Primary Election, the Board of Supervisors learned Friday as they canvassed the vote.
Aubrey Rowlatt, Clerk-Recorder, certified the election results with 13,514 ballots accepted.
She noted that six signed ballots were rejected by the Mail Ballot Processing and Counting Board, and one in-person voter cast a ballot without the signature saved to the voter’s record. Those discrepancies would not change the outcome of the election, she said.
Additionally, there were 175 mail ballots that needed signature verification, and voters successfully cured 98 of those.
Carson City chose its top two candidates for several local races:
Curtis Horton and Jim Wells lead the Board of Supervisors Ward 3 race. Horton had 40 percent of the vote, and Wells had 34 percent.
Clerk-Recorder candidates Stacie Wilke-McCulloch and William Scott Hoen received 46 and 39 percent of the vote respectively.
Incumbent Maria “Lupe” Ramirez had 38 percent of the vote for school trustee 1, and her opponent Jason Stinson had 31 percent.
The top two candidates from each local race will go to the general election in November.
Candidates Ken Furlong for sheriff, Jason Woodbury for district attorney, Andrew Rasor for treasurer, Kimberly Adams for assessor, Matt Clapham for school trustee 1, and Richard Varner for school trustee 4 ran unopposed.
Aside from the administrative process, “The election was actually… I’m going to say fun,” Rowlatt said, more like a question than a comment.
Election workers in the audience laughed at that.
With more seriousness, Rowlatt added, “This primary election was heartbreaking for me, knowing there were so many events happening.”
While early and election-day voting was ongoing at the community center, she pointed out, there were also lots of community events in the nearby area, including the Nevada State Fair. She encouraged the Board of Supervisors to consider that in ongoing discussions on relocating the Clerk-Recorder’s office.
“The voters need a consistent place to go. They need to trust where we count our ballots, where we tabulate our ballots, where we transfer our ballots,” Rowlatt said.
The board praised her and her election workers and unanimously certified the results of the Carson City 2022 Primary Election.
“It takes a community effort to get this accomplished, and we have a great one,” said Mayor Lori Bagwell.
