A smaller turnout is expected during the annual Valley Electric Association meeting in Beatty Saturday, April 19, after a bylaw change allowed members to cast ballots by mail.

"We've already had over 1,000 people send in their mail-in ballot, which means we've already reached our quorum," Valley Electric spokesperson Staci Behnke said.

Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Beatty Community Center, 100 A Ave. South. Beatty High School representatives will be catering a free lunch at 11:30 a.m. The business meeting begins at 1 p.m.

Members who want to vote in person must be registered, Behnke said.

Before the bylaw change, VEA had to organize enough members for a quorum. Last year 365 members showed up for the annual meeting in Amargosa Valley; the year before that, 680 turned up to voice complaints over a rate increase.

The proposal to allow mail-in balloting was passed by 440 of the 522 members casting ballots last year. The additional ballots reflect the number of proxy votes cast.

VEA members will vote on some more major bylaw changes during this annual meeting. One proposal calls for expanding the membership on the board of directors from four to six, creating two Pahrump districts split at Highway 372 and a new Clark County district including Sandy Valley, Trout Canyon and Mountain Springs.

Terms of office of the board members would be extended from two to three years under another bylaw change.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than today, Friday. Members who want to travel in person by bus to the Beatty meeting also have a deadline today to call the VEA at 727-5312 to reserve a seat.

Behnke said clowns will be there to entertain the children during the business meeting. Members attending the Beatty meeting can enter a raffle for a $1,200 power bill credit, VEA doesn't have a vehicle to give away this year.

Behnke said Valley Electric will also be promoting its Our Energy Our Future campaign at the annual meeting, encouraging members to contact government officials about how climate change measures could influence their utility bills.