Washoe County Board of Commissioners officially approved the canvass of the June 12th primary vote, on Tuesday. This essentially means all of the voter numbers and percentages on Election Day have checked out and the results are approved.
The canvass also gives the county a chance to look at what went well and what areas could be improved. Officials also encourage voter feedback so the process can be as transparent as possible.
Washoe County officials were pleased, overall, with the results--especially voter turnout. Deanna Spikula, Registrar of Voters says, "We had a 26.9 percent turnout which is definitely more than we've had since 2010."
An audit of the results was completed on Friday and showed no unexplained errors. However, while the voter turnout was higher than usual and the results were accurate, the canvass did show room for improvement.
That includes issues like fled voters, Spikula explains, "They initiate the voting process, but do not fully complete it." Perhaps the most common complaint this election was privacy, or a lack thereof. Margaret Martini, Incline Village Voter says, "Everything was so open, you could see how everyone was voting."
Spikula says they are considering several products to enhance that privacy by the general election, "We definitely want our voters to feel they have the freedom to vote their ballot how they wish to and not be influenced by anybody."
Several Incline Village voters were also concerned about a sitting trustee working one of the local polls. Frank Wright, one of those voters, says, "It's just an uncomfortable position for someone who's walking in to see a sitting trustee overseeing the polls, overseeing the voting booths and talking to people as they come in."
Since voters immediately notified the county about it, officials removed the trustee. Spikula says, "We asked him, 'For the integrity of our elections, will you step down?' and he said yes, he did step down. So again, he was removed during early voting."
While Spikula says there are no laws banning him from being a poll worker, since he wasn't on the ballot, they'll work to make sure to avoid any possible perception of conflict of interest in the next election, anyway. She adds, "We'll make sure we don't tread on that ethical boundary again."
Spikula says they're also working to figure out what might have caused ballot display issues; a glitch where it appeared some candidates were missing from ballots.
Wednesday, the county will already begin preparations for November's general election, where they expect both voter registration and turnout to jump. They welcome any additional voter feedback--if you'd like to give yours, just call Washoe311 by dialing 3-1-1.
