Election filing opens Monday

Candidates interested in one of more than 60 elected seats in Douglas County will have two weeks starting 9 a.m. Monday to file.

Clerk-Treasurer Barbara Griffin said three seats on the board of commission¬ers and five seats on the school board are up for election this year, along with seats on the coun¬ty's four-dozen town and district boards.

Griffin said she expects a voter turnout this year that could equal or surpass 2004's record-breaking 92 percent.

"It has the potential to be just as high this time," she said. "There's no incumbent and given all the factors of world and national events, turnout could be just as high or greater."

Term limits will prevent Douglas County Commis¬sion Chairman Kelly Kite from seeking a fourth term on the board. Kite is the first Valley elected official to be affected by term limits.

Commissioner Jim Baushke is not expected to seek another term. Commissioner Doug Johnson has said he will seek re-election.

So far, Valley residents Stuart Posselt and Dave Nel¬son have announced they will seek Kite's and Baushke's seats on the commission.

Hopefuls must live in Commission Districts 1, 3, or 5, but are elected at large.

Five school board seats are up for election, including four-year terms in areas 1, 3, 4 and 5. School board area 6 is a two-year term.

Gardnerville, Minden and Genoa each have two seats up for election this year. Grif¬fin said those seats all have four-year terms.

"All the general improve¬ment districts have seats up for election and there are a slew of those," she said.

The clerk's office is still collecting information from the districts about which of those seats are available, so anyone interested should con¬tact the district.

Residents may file for election at either the Minden Inn or the Tahoe General Ser¬vices Office in Stateline. The last day to file is May 16.

Filers for county commis¬sion should bring photo iden¬tification and $100 cash. School board members should bring $30. The filing fee for paid town and improvement district posi¬tions is also $30. Trustees who are not paid do not have to pay a filing fee.

Candidates have to be reg¬istered to vote when they sign up at the clerk's office.

Also up for election this year are two state legislative seats, Assembly District 39 and the Central Nevada Sena¬torial District. Assemblyman James Settelmeyer, R-Gard¬nerville, is expected to seek re-election as is Sen. Mike McGuinness, R-Fallon. Also up for election is a seat on the State Board of Education.

Those seats file with the Nevada Secretary of State's office.