The long line of individuals circling around the Bob Ruud Community Center on Monday, Oct. 19th could only mean one thing this year. Early voting is now underway in Nye County.
The Pahrump Valley Times spoke to several individuals in line waiting to cast their ballots.
One person was Dean West, a longtime Pahrump resident and musician, who arrived at the polls at roughly 10:30 a.m.
“We decided to vote earlier this year because we have to get this started and get it over with and get everything the way it’s supposed to be, to get back to normal,” he said. “I want the life that I used to have here.”
West also confirmed who he is voting for in the presidential race between incumbent Donald Trump and challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“Our minds are made up and I am supporting Mr. Donald Trump, because he is real, and he is not a politician,” West said. “I am getting old and I need my money. He is for everything I am for and I just can’t see going into socialism. I think the economy is getting back. I am a musician and it all slowed down because all of the bars have closed down, but it is coming back. I still have a name around here. The Harvest Festival also got shot down this year.”
Though West was wearing a facial covering and seated in a scooter while in line, he suggested that wild horses could not drag him away from the voting booth.
“I would walk over glass in order to vote today,” he said. “I am wearing a face mask because I am 74-years-old, and I want to protect everyone else too. The president is immune and he passes masks out and everything else at his rallies. It’s no toss-up at all. He’s got the best doctors in the world and his opponent should be in a nursing home. I just want it to get back to normal and I think everybody in this line wants it to get back to normal. We have been waiting for about an hour and 15 minutes so far.”
West was joined in line by his wife Kathy.
Both are united on their vote selection.
“Nobody can get this economy going,” she said. “The economy is coming back and it would not come back under Biden with the taxes and regulations. The things Biden would do would not bring this economy back. He would stall this economy and he wants this whole country to be in debt to the government. He wants the government to take care of everything and that’s why he’s going to raise your taxes. Our country is about liberties and the pursuit of happiness. It’s not up the government to give me happiness.”
West also provided her thoughts on the issue of wearing a mask while out in public.
“Trump believes in liberties, and if you are an older person and have a bad immune system, you should definitely wear a mask,” she said. “He’s healthy and he doesn’t have underlying conditions. The biggest problem is underlying conditions.”
On the issue of President Trump himself contracting the COVID-19 virus, West also spoke about the president’s health, at present.
“He snapped out of it just fine and of course he had the best doctors in the world, but if you look at the amount of people who have caught this, they don’t talk about how many people have recovered from it,” she said. “It’s an over 99 percent recovery rate. If you are saying that there’s over 8 million people that caught it and have had it, and there’s 200,000 deaths, that’s way too many and it’s terrible, but what about cancer? Let’s talk about cancer because they haven’t cured cancer and they haven’t cured the common cold. The cold is a coronavirus.”
Just in front of Dean and Kathy West was resident Donnie Mullanix, who moved to Pahrump from Oregon about a year ago.
He too said he’s voting for President Trump, again.
“I wanted to make sure that I voted in person for Trump, because if Trump is not elected, it’s not going to be a good thing for this world,” he declared. “It’s because Biden wants to bring in the communists and the Russians. He already has communistic problems with China. You see it on the news, and I am telling you that he’s got problems with China, and his son has got problems with China. He shouldn’t even have a security clearance, let alone be president of the United States, with what his son did over there, and what he has been doing with China.”
When asked how important is experience in regard to running the country, Mullanix cited President Trump’s acumen in the business world prior to his presidency.
It should be noted that although Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy, his hotels and casino businesses have declared bankruptcy at least six times between 1991 and 2009.
“Having a businessman in there is the most important thing that you can possibly have, and not a politician who has been in there forever and taking bribe after bribe after bribe,” Mullanix said. “Having a man in there who knows his way around the system, and can make money for the people. Last year was the best year I’ve had in my life. I made good money last year because of Trump.”
As a veteran, Mullanix gave his thoughts on several former U.S. military generals who have expressed disapproval about President’s Trump’s character, including former White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly.
“You know what? They are in with the deep state,” Mullanix said in part. “Biden is in with the deep state, and Pelosi is in with the deep state, and so is the FBI and the CIA. They are all about wars. Every president that we’ve ever had has taken us to war to make sure people were killed, so that the economy could go up. The less people, the more the economy goes up. Trump doesn’t care because he’s already a billionaire. He don’t need their money and you can’t buy him, okay?”
Another person in line waiting to vote was a man who identified himself as Andrew Jackson.
“I am voting for Trump,” he said. “I watched the debate and I saw a lot of childish bickering. I am voting for Trump because actions speak louder than words. In my almost four decades of being a human being, I have seen more good things come from the office during Trump’s reign. As far as I know, he has been the best president since Kennedy.”
For detailed information on early voting logon to www.nyecounty.net/236/Elections, or call the clerk’s office at 775-751-7040.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com.