Elections · Valley-wide
Long Clark County voting lines on Tuesday recall a 1996 election night that pulled a mayor and councilman into controversy
The Review-Journal reports Tuesday's long polling lines echo the 1996 general election, when two-hour waits, too few new voting machines and two city officials' reactions sparked public anger.
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What happened
Long lines formed at polling places across Clark County on Tuesday, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal noted that the scene resembled the county's 1996 general election, held 30 years ago. That election produced waits of two hours at polling places around the county and a public dispute involving two Las Vegas city officials.
In a look back by investigative reporter Mary Hynes, the Review-Journal revisited how a city councilman and the mayor reacted to the delays and how county commissioners and residents responded the next day. County officials this year have also warned voters about delays, as covered in our earlier report on longer Election Day wait times in Clark County.
The 1996 election night
A councilman blames the registrar
Then-Las Vegas City Councilman Matthew Callister blamed then-Clark County Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson for the two-hour waits at his own polling place and others countywide. Speaking to a Review-Journal reporter on election evening, he used crude language to say she should be fired.
Callister also told the newspaper, "I spent most of my night explaining that I was not in charge of this debacle." At the time, he was an attorney and a former state legislator.
The mayor moves to the front of the line
Earlier that day, Mayor Jan Jones went to the front of the line at her polling place, saying her schedule was too full for her to wait. "You can't elect me to be mayor and then say our work at City Hall isn't a priority," she said then, according to the Review-Journal. Jones was the city's first female mayor.
The backlash the next day
County commissioners respond
The day after the election, angry county commissioners and members of the public criticized both officials, the Review-Journal reported. County Commissioner Paul Christensen, who was Callister's cousin, urged residents to file ethics complaints against the councilman and called his remark "a serious breach of ethics."
Commissioner Myrna Williams took aim at Jones for skipping the line. Williams said that everyone, "not just the mayor," had appointments and responsibilities.
Two apologies
Callister publicly apologized for the words he chose, but not for the point behind them. "This isn't a Third World country here in Las Vegas," he said. "Nobody should have to stand for two hours waiting to vote."
Jones apologized as well. She argued, though, that the more important question was why voters had been made to wait two hours in the first place.
Why the 1996 lines were so long
The Review-Journal reported that the 1996 delays were blamed in part on a shortage of electronic voting machines. That election was the first general election in which the machines had been used.
For this year, a separate Review-Journal item said heavy voter turnout and changes to the voting process were creating long waits at polling sites across Clark County, and that officials warned lines could grow longer Tuesday night. Voters who still need details on casting a ballot can review our guide to voting and returning a ballot on Election Day, and more coverage is collected on our elections page.
What to watch next
- Whether lines at Clark County polling sites grow longer Tuesday night, as officials warned, according to the Review-Journal.
- How heavy turnout and changes to the voting process affect waits at polling sites across Clark County for the rest of Election Day.
