WASHOE COUNTY REGISTRAR UPDATES ESTIMATED EARLY VOTER TURNOUT;

REMINDS VOTERS TO OBSERVE RESTRICTIONS ON ADVOCACY WHEN THEY VOTE

Reno, Nevada. October 30, 2008. Washoe County Registrar of Voters Dan Burk has revised his prediction of how many people will cast their ballots during early voting. Earlier this month, Burk had estimated 55,000 people would vote early, comprising about 25% of total registered voters.

However, given that early voter numbers totaled 78,403 as of end of voting Wednesday, October 29^th, Burk has now revised his early voting estimate to approximately 95,000 or more with two days left. October 29^th also set a new one-day early voting record with 10,145 people turning out yesterday to vote.

“It’s very clear at this point that we have set a new record for early voters,” Burk stated. “The unknown is how much higher we will go in breaking our previous early voter record.”

For the 2006 general election, 41,906 voters turned out for early voting---a new record at that time. The 2008 general election will see at least double those numbers.

“I think it’s very feasible that early voters and absentee voters could account for nearly 50% of our total voter turnout,” Burk added. “If so, that will certainly reduce the wait times voters will see on Election Day.”

No Advocacy Reminder. Burk also wants to remind voters of the state law that prohibits advocacy of a candidate or ballot question less than 100 feet from a polling place. Known as “electioneering”, this type of advocacy is not restricted to people carrying signs, but also to voters who enter the polling place wearing buttons, clothing or other items that advocate for a candidate, party or ballot question outcome. The same is true for items advocating not voting for a particular candidate, party or issue.

“Working with the Secretary of State, we’ve tried very hard to create a non-partisan atmosphere within 100 feet of the polling place as well as in the polling location itself,” Burk said. “While we’re happy to see people so excited about the election outcome, we must remind them to observe the restrictions against any kind of advocacy within 100 feet of the polling location.”

The restrictions on election advocacy are enforced by poll workers who may ask voters to cover up their clothing or remove their buttons when they enter the polling location. In extreme cases if a voter is unwilling to comply, law enforcement will be called.

“We’ve gotten a few complaints from voters regarding advocacy in the polling places,” Burk said. “Usually people are cooperative once we make them aware of the restrictions. We just want to remind them and ask for their cooperation in advance.”

From the rear

Lisa Printz, Downtown Reno Library's Information Dodgeball Team Captain from the front.

Downtown Reno Library's Information Dodgeball Team

Live Webstreaming of County Commission meeting

Washoe County has launched live webstreaming of The Washoe Channel via our website. While we are still "tweaking" the site, you can view all programming on The Washoe Channel via your computer, including County Commission meetings. To view The Washoe Channel via our website:

1) go to www.washoecounty.us

2) click on the Washoe County Television link located in the bottom right-hand corner of our website's front page (located under visitors)

3) click on the Washoe Channel Live link located on the left side of the screen

4) you will be asked to enter your log-in and password since it will take you outside our firewall

5) allow the program a few minutes to buffer

6) you can increase the size of the video to full-size if you double click on the video screen

7) the following day, the meeting will be "archived" to the site for viewing on demand; simply select the Washoe Channel archives link instead of the Washoe Channel Live link in step #3

8) You can "jump" to the agenda item you wish via the pulldown menu shown below the video screen

Halloween hits early voting. Robyn Rassuchine of the Downtown Reno Library casts her ballot.

POSITION AVAILABLE

LIBRARIAN II – INTERNET

WASHOE COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM

RENO, NEVADA

The Internet Services Librarian manages the Washoe County Library System website, oversees a popular public Internet access service, helps resolve technical issues and takes part in system wide planning. Washoe County is located along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and is known as a great recreational area. This rapidly growing community has 14 library branches that include the virtual branch, the bookmobile and branches in the areas of Reno, Sparks, Incline Village and Gerlach.

Applicants must have a Masters degree from an accredited college or university in Library Science and two years of professional level library experience OR an equivalent combination of education and experience. In addition, qualified applicants will possess professional Internet experience (web design, HTML coding, training others).

Salary range $55,764 – $72,488. No state income tax; 100% employer-paid retirement contributions; medical, dental, vision, life insurance benefits provided at no cost to employee; longevity pay; and deferred compensation benefits available.

Must complete Washoe County Employment Application. For more information and access to the application form see the Washoe County Human Resources Department web site at http://www.washoecounty.us/humanresources/careers/jobs.htm or call Julie Paholke, the Recruiting Analyst at (775) 328-2085 or jpaholke@washoecounty.us

Application Deadline: Friday, November 21, 2008.

ABA Report on E-Rulemaking Proposes Overhaul of Government-Wide Program

United States-Agencies: ABA Report on E-Rulemaking Proposes Overhaul of Government-Wide Program [From U.S. Law Week, 10/28/08]

A high-level American Bar Association task force Oct. 21 released a report finding significant flaws in the federal government's effort to place all agency rulemaking dockets online and calling for a "fundamentally new approach" to the six-year, multimillion dollar project.

The task force report examined all aspects of the E-Rulemaking initiative and concluded that the project has failed to achieve its groundbreaking potential because of a series of interrelated problems involving funding, system design, and governance.

"If a government-wide electronic docket and rulemaking support system were being designed in today's technological environment, the preferred architecture almost certainly would not be a single and exclusive centralized system," the task force said in the report.

At the same time, the task force stopped short of calling for a complete reinvention of the system, calling such a move "a radical step."
Instead, it recommended that the centralized Web-based system be enhanced by allowing agencies to experiment with customized applications built off the core system, while preserving government-wide document access from a single Web site.

The goal of the 22-member task force was to provide a "clear-eyed assessment" of the current system and offer recommendations for consideration by the incoming administration and Congress, according to Sally Katzen, the task force chair, who previewed the report Oct. 17 at a meeting of the ABA's Administrative Law Section. She said she expects the ABA to endorse the report. http://www.abanet.org/adminlaw/home.html

"It is our fervent hope that this tome does not sit on bookshelves,"
said Katzen, who served as administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's regulatory policy office during the Clinton administration.

The task force report was officially released at an event sponsored by the Council for Excellence in Government. http://www.excelgov.org/

EARLY VOTING ENDS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31^ST;

LAST DAY TO REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT IS TOMORROW

Reno, Nevada Oct. 27, 2008. Washoe County Registrar of Voters Dan Burk wants to remind voters that they have until Friday, October 31^st to vote early in the 2008 General Election. However, he recommends that voters try to get to an early voting location prior to Nevada Day, October 31^st, as that day will probably be very busy given it is a state holiday.

Registered voters can vote at any early voting site; a listing of locations with hours of operation is located inside sample ballots which were mailed a couple weeks ago. The complete list of early voting sites can also be found by going to www.washoecounty.us/voters. Voters are encouraged to bring their sample ballot with them to make the check-in process go faster, and to bring a photo I.D. with them just in case they are required to show identification.

As of yesterday, October 26^th, 51,209 people had voted early. Registrar Dan Burk had originally predicted that early voters would account for about 24% of total voters (55,000 early voters out of 225,000 registered voters). However, as of yesterday, 51,209 people had voted early, already comprising 22% of the total registered voters (231,470). With 5 more days of early voting, Burk is now predicting that early voters will comprise approximately 30% of total voters.

Absentee Ballot Requests Due Tomorrow. Voters should also be aware that if they want to vote by absentee ballot, their request must physically be in the Registrar of Voters office located in the Washoe County Administrative Complex at Ninth & Wells Streets in Reno, Nevada by 5 p.m., Tuesday, October 28^th. An absentee ballot request form can be found inside the sample ballot or on our website.

Early voting at the Downtown Reno Library

Arnie Maurins, Washoe County Library System Director, early votes at the Downtown Reno Library.

WASHOE COUNTY REGISTERS NEARLY 25,000 ADDITIONAL VOTERS SINCE PRIMARY;

EARLY VOTING TO BEGIN ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH

Reno, Nevada. October 14, 2008. Washoe County closed its doors at 9 p.m. this evening, the last day to register to vote in the general election. The unofficial count of newly registered voters since the August primary is about 25,000.

“While we won’t have official numbers for a couple days, we do estimate that new voter registration applications total about 25,000 since the primary election,” stated Registrar Dan Burk.

Shortly after 9 p.m.---with all citizens who wanted to register to vote having been served—Registrar Burk ran a report that showed the unofficial total number of registered voters in Washoe County to be 231, 473 with 92,210 registered Democrats (39.8%) and 90,907 Republicans (39.3%)—about a half percent difference. Independent voters comprise 34,807 of the total, or 15%. In addition to the 231,473 active registered voters in the database, Burk noted that there are still 38,000 inactive voters that have not been deleted from the database but will not be included in the total registered voters number that determines voter turnout.

“While the 2004 presidential election actually had about 233,000 registered voters in our database, we know that many of those were inactive,” Burk explained. “Since that time, we’ve done a good job of cleaning up the database to reflect true active voters so the final voter turnout will truly be representative of the number of active registered voters eligible to cast their ballots.”

Throughout this last day of voter registration, the line to the Registrar’s office located at the Washoe County Administrative Complex has been steady, but not overwhelming. Additional temporary staff working the counter at the Registrar’s office helped move people through the process quicker than in past years.

“We are truly appreciative of all the cooperation we received today from both our election workers and our citizens. Everyone was very mindful of the importance of today’s process, and now we look forward to the early voting and general election events,” Burk added.

Early voting begins on Saturday, October 18^th and runs through Friday, October 31^st. A schedule of locations and times is available on the county’s website at www.washoecounty.us or can be found in the sample ballots. Sample ballots were mailed earlier this week, and should arrive in your mailbox by Friday. If you have any questions, please visit our website or call the Registrar’s office at 328-3670.

This Wednesday (October 15) the Library of Congress will offer a free online program about the history of Presidential elections and inaugurations. Details are below. Everyone is welcome to attend. There is no need to register. For more information about free online programs available through OPAL (Online Programs for All), please visit the following URL:

http://www.opal-online.org/progschrono.htm

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 1:00 Central, noon Mountain, and 11:00 a.m. Pacific:

Presidential Elections and Inaugurations: 1789 to the Present

Host: Library of Congress

Online Location: OPAL Online Auditorium


The Library of Congress Web site contains a wide variety of resources that document the history of presidential elections and inaugurations. From George Washington to Obama v. McCain, learn how to navigate the Library's site to find election-related resources such as manuscripts, government documents, photographs, cartoons, films, and sound recordings.