On Tuesday, Truckee and North Tahoe voters will have their voices heard in the state’s gubernatorial recall election.

While much attention is on the possibility of Gov. Gavin Newsom being recalled, voters within the Truckee Fire Protection District will be faced with an additional choice at the polls. Measure T, which if passed would cost homeowners $179 per parcel for eight years, would provide an estimated $3.7 million annually for wildfire protection funding. It must pass by two-thirds of the vote.

“The more fuels there are, the more intensely the fire burns in the community, the more difficult it is for incident commanders to put fire resources in the way of the fire,” said Truckee Fire Protection Chief Bill Seline. “That’s what Measure T is about. It’s about removing fuels from the wildland urban interface to reduce the intensity even of a big fire that’s coming toward our neighborhoods.”

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As of Wednesday, 31,177 ballots issued by Nevada County have been returned by mail, representing roughly 40% of the ballots sent out, according to Natalie Adona, Nevada County’s assistant clerk-recorder/registrar of voters.

“For a special election, the turnout numbers are pretty much what I would expect them to be,” said Adona.

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Comparatively, 87.59% of registered voters from Nevada County voted in last year’s presidential election, while 88.21% of registered voters from Placer County cast their ballots in last year’s presidential election.

Also, with fires continuing to burn in the region, Nevada County is one of 12 counties offering provisional ballots to emergency workers and firefighters.

“If they can’t make it to their home county in time to vote, they can vote a provisional ballot where they are and we’ll send it to the correct county,” said Adona. “If any out-of-county emergency workers working on fire need to vote, we’re obligated to give them a provisional and get that over to their home county.”

The voting center in Truckee — at Truckee Town Hall, 10183 Truckee Airport Road — will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Monday. On Tuesday, election day, the voting center will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“Most of our in-person voters will probably be on election day,” Adona said.

Placer County has poling locations at The Old Fire House in Tahoe City, at North Tahoe High School, and at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach. Locations are also set up at the Olympic Valley Public Service District and Northstar Community Services District.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643