Election Guide News, voter information PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS Nye County Elections Office Nevada Secretaty of State Elections Division • Nye County • Statewide results Photos by HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT A local cast his ballot Tuesday at the Bob Ruud Community Center, one of Pahrump's three voting stations, for the 2008 Primary Election. Local Robert Smith, left, votes at Manse Elementary School Tuesday afternoon. Manse was one of three locations at which Pahrumpians could cast their vote for the 2008 primary. A Pahrump woman casts her vote with her early election ballot in hand at the Bob Ruud Community Center Tuesday afternoon. Advertisement

As primary season came to a close last night, it was clear that some high-profile drama had made its way to the polls, namely in the routing of District Judge candidate Bob Beckett.

Beckett, who was arrested in June on DUI charges, received only 838 votes, or 14 percent, compared to 3,190 (54 percent) for incumbent John Davis and 1,908 (32 percent) for fellow challenger Marla Zlotek.

In Nye County, Lorinda Wichman garnered 311 votes (46 percent) in the Republican race for District I county commissioner and will face off with Rob Mobely, who received 148 votes, in November.

Incumbent County Commissioner Gary Hollis received 344 votes, a solid 56 percent of the total votes cast for District III. He will run against Harley Kulkin, the only Democratic candidate, in the general election.

The general election ballot for the Nye County School District school board will have several familiar names.

J.E. "Doc" McNeely, the appointed representative for Area II, received 464 votes (54 percent).

Incumbent Area VI trustee Harold Tokerud received 497 votes, for a total of 67 percent.

The large field of candidates for the new Justice of the Peace seat has been narrowed down to two: Linda DeMeo, who garnered 1,042 votes (nearly 22 percent) and Kent Jasperson, who received 969 votes (20 percent).

The candidates for Areas IV and V, Tracie Ward and Kevin Pape, ran uncontested. The primary also shaved a field of nine candidates for the Pahrump Town Board to four choices come November: incumbent Don Rust, who led the race with 1,349 votes, followed closely by Mike Darby, who received 1,269 votes, Vicky Parker, who received 1,213 votes and Sean Brooks who received 932 votes.

On the state level, Republican incumbent Dean Heller captured 2,346 votes for the District II congressional seat, thus claiming a solid lead over James Smack, who received 548 votes.

Mary "Kris" Pickering won the race for Nevada Supreme Court Justice Seat "B" with 1,718 votes. The second highest vote-getter was the "none of these candidates" option, with 670 votes, closely followed by the contender, Deborah Schumacher, who captured 648 votes.

In spite of the fact that Nye County has 22,435 registered voters, only 6,021 (26.8 percent) showed up to vote in the primary.

Of the voters who exercised their civic duty, Republicans dominated the election with 3,021 party members casting their vote.

They were followed by a strong showing of 2,248 Democrats.

The last block included 752 nonpartisan voters.

Duty and family traditions

Earlier in the day, campaign officials were on hand to help voters navigate the booths.

Husband and wife team Bridgette and Dieter Goerke worked together at J.G. Johnson Elementary.

Originally from Germany, the couple said they became part of the process after earning U.S. citizenship.

"Voting is important for us and especially since we're from somewhere else," Bridgette Goerke said. "We became citizens here, so I think it's twice as important."

Fellow election worker Jacquie Freeman said she's been volunteering at the polls for 46 years.

To Freeman, assisting in the democratic process is a family tradition.

"I'm very proud to be a third-generation election worker," said Freeman, whose grandmother and mother volunteered in Fallon and Yerrington, respectively.

"This -- the election day -- is a very important day for me."

Like Freeman, voter Inez Allison's family taught her the importance of civic participation.

"My mother raised me and said, 'You register to vote and you vote,' " said Allison, who now passes on that same advice to her own children.

Allison has a long history of political activity. In Chicago, she was involved in campaigns and made sure to be an informed voter.

"Here, it's different," Allison added. "They're not knocking on your doors all the time like they are in Chicago."

Fellow voter Mildred Bell attributes her relatively new enthusiasm for the electoral process to small-town living.

Bell said she didn't become a regular voter until moving to Pahrump 15 years ago.

"In a big city, it's easy to just think it'll take care of itself," she said.

Anne Bosquet, working out of J.G. Johnson this year, said she looks at her election efforts as an extension of the service she and her husband gave their country over 60 years ago.

"I do it because my husband is a World War II veteran and he paid for serving all of his life," said Bousquet, who was in the Air Force during the Korean Conflict.

"When people say 'I didn't vote,' I just think, 'Gosh, something like a million people died for our right to vote,'" she added.

"It's the least we can do"

A few voters at J.G. Johnson Elementary disappointed with what they saw as a low voter turnout.

"It ought to be a law, frankly," said Carole Crockett. "You have to vote or you get penalized."

Crockett's husband, John, spent much of his life as a career military man and said his views on the electoral process were largely shaped by his experiences abroad.

Voting is a right the American people should take seriously, he said.

Fellow voter Kirk Sowash had similar views.

"People fight for that right and we've got kids in Iraq dying right now for that right," he said. "Just take that right away and see how long people are content."

John Rohrig, another J.G. Johnson voter, went to the polls around 2 p.m. He hoped more voters would show up later in the day, after work.

"To use the old cliché, if you don't vote, you can't complain," he said. "As a citizen, it's the least we can do. When you think of all the countries where you can die if you vote for the wrong person, we've got kind of a spoiled system." At the Bob Ruud Community Center, voter turnout was described as "slow but steady" by election worker Barbara Kononchik.

According to Kononchik, the process went smoothly for voters there.

"People seem to know where they need to go," she said. "A lot of them have the early ballots, so that seems to help."