Early voter turnout judged as favorable

Early voting results for today’s primary elections are in, and County Clerk Janet Collins said Monday it was a good turnout considering the circumstances.

The county clerk’s office received 556 early votes, and the alternate early voting site at the Portales Public Library received 111.

“I am very pleased with the amount of early votes with the ballot having so few contested races,” Collins said.

The polls will be open today from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Collins said voters will not need voter identification cards, but will need to verbally give their date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number.

For voters in need of information, Collins said the county clerk’s office will be open from 6 a.m. today until the poll results are in. The telephone number for the county clerk’s office is 356-8562.

Collins said there are 5,092 registered Republicans and 4,240 registered Democrats eligible to vote today.

“It might be extremely busy at the polls ..., or it might be painfully slow,” Collins said Monday. “We’ll just have to wait see.”

The two Republican candidates for District 66 state representatives are Lucille B. Tucker and incumbent Keith Gardner.

The two Republican candidates for county sheriff are Darren Hooker and incumbent Thomas M. Gossett.

There are three Republican candidates for U.S. Senate: Allen W. McCulloch, David Pfeffer and Joseph J. Carraro.

The four Democratic candidates for secretary of state are Mary Herrera, Shirley Hooper, Letitia Montoya and Stephanie V. Gonzales.

Geno Zamora, Lemuel L. Martinez and Gary K. King are vying for attorney general on the Democratic ticket.