Early voting turnout 31.7 percent of registered voters

Staff report

Assuming nobody turns out to Election Day in Curry County on Tuesday, at any of the 10 places, for all of the 12 hours polls are open, turnout for the 2016 general election will still be 31.7 percent.

Early voting closed Saturday evening at the North Plains Mall, with a total of 3,645 ballots cast. Over at the Curry County Administrative Complex, early voting ended Friday with 3,635 ballots cast.

The total of 7,280 represents 31.7 percent turnout of the county’s 22,943 registered voters — 10,907 Republican, 6,839 Democrat, 4,956 declined to state and 241 other — and easily surpassed the early voting totals for 2008 (6,269) and 2012 (5,666)

Polls will open again 7 a.m. Tuesday, and close at 7 p.m. Election day voters may cast their ballot at any one of the following locations: Trinity United Methodist Church, North Plains Mall, Colonial Park Golf Course, the Roy Walker Community Center, the Youth Recreation Building, Grady Senior Center, Melrose City Hall, the Texico Community Center and Ranchvale Baptist Church.

A rural polling place is available at the Pleasant Hill Fire Department, but only for voters who live in that precinct.

The presidential race largely between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton — with third-party runs by Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein — is the main draw on the ballot in an election season with most local races decided at the primary stage.

Only one county race — the 9th Judicial District judge race between appointed Republican Matthew Chandler and Democratic challenger Angelina Baca — is contested. That’s the same scenario in Roosevelt County, as well.

Highlights on area ballots include:

• Congress: Neither Senate seat is up for election this year, but voters do have a pair of House races.

District 3, which covers Clovis and most of Portales, pits Democratic incumbent Ben Ray Lujan against Michael H. Romero, a retired police officer from Taos.

District 2, which covers a southern portion of Roosevelt County, has incumbent Republican Steve Pearce against Democrat Merrie Lee Soules. Jack McGrann is a write-in candidate.

• State races: Republican state legislator Nora Espinoza runs against Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver for the secretary of state position, left open when Dianna Duran left the office under felony charges.

• Judiciary: Republican Judith Nakamura is running to keep her seat on the state Supreme Court against Democrat Michael E. Vigil. Stephen G. French, a Republican, faces Julie J. Vargas in the Court of Appeals race.

There are also retention elections for Barbara J. Vigil on the Supreme Court and Jonathan B. Sutin, Tim L. Garcia and M. Monica Zamora on the Court of Appeals.

• Judicial amendment: An amendment is proposing granting judges authority to “deny release on bail pending trial for dangerous defendants in felony cases while retaining the right to pretrial release for non-dangerous defendants who do not pose a flight risk.”

• Bonds: There are four general obligation bonds on the ballot. Bond Question A deals with senior facility improvements, Bond Question B library bonds, Bond Question C for higher education and Bond Question D for state police, public safety and national guard facilities.

• In Bailey County, voters are asked to legalize the sale of beer and wine “for off-premises consumption only.” Muleshoe voters passed a similar measure last April.

• Quay County voters have one local contested race — a county treasurer race between Republican Patsy Gresham and Democrat Andrew Angel.

• De Baca County has two contested county races — the commission District 3 seat between Republican Robert William Jack and Democrat Bill Wertheim, and the county sheriff race between Republican Paul Fishell and Democrat Elva Harvey.