Nevada Political Roundup February 15

Welcome to the Tom Clark Solutions weekly roundup!
Here is where we'll keep you informed on what is happening in Nevada politics.

I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl, were pampered on Valentine’s Day and have taken some time to watch the Olympics.

I love these guys!

This week we provide information on the ballot questions, confirmed, and proposed, that could very well be the driver for getting people to the polls (or mailbox) in November. It’s not always the names on the ballot that entice people to vote. Ballot questions can provide the emotional tie to issues that are more important than people. There hasn’t been a lot of media coverage and active campaigning on these issues, but I think that will soon change.

Even if organizers of an initiative fail to garner the necessary signatures to qualify for the ballot, the content will be debated and candidates will be judged on their position (if they take one).

-Tom

2022 Ballot Breakdown So Far

On the Ballot

Below are the four questions that are known to be on the 2022 Ballot. They have not been assigned question numbers. For more details on each of the questions, click the Subject name to read the respective Ballotpedia page.

These Wanna Get on the Ballot

The following initiatives have been filed with the Secretary of State’s Office within the last several months. Before qualifying for the 2022 Ballot, each initiative must pass several checkpoints, namely gathering 140,777 signatures from across the whole state.

Further details of the following proposed ballot questions can be found on the Nevada Secretary of States website: 2022 Petitions & General Election Ballot Questions

Initiative Petitions to Amend the Nevada State Constitution

If the following constitutional initiatives are approved by voters at the November 2022 and November 2024 General Elections, the provisions of the Initiatives would become effective on the fourth Tuesday of November 2024 (November 26, 2024), when the votes are canvassed by the Supreme Court.

The Nevada Independent partnered with OH Predictive Insights to run a poll on how Nevadans feel about real and potential questions on the ballot. Poll: Voters favor gaming tax hike, split on open primaries

Open Primaries & Ranked Choice Voting

• “Better Voting Nevada Initiative” submitted on behalf of the Nevada Voters First PAC
• Proposes to make the following changes to the state’s election process:
  • All primary elections for partisan offices will be held as open primaries, with the top 5 regardless of party affiliation, advancing to the general election
  • General elections for the state’s congressional representatives, constitutional officers, and state legislators will be conducted by a rank-choice ballot
• Submitted language
• Related story: Proposed ballot question would create open primaries, ranked-choice voting

Independent Redistricting Commission

• Filed by Sondra Cosgrove on behalf of Fair Maps Nevada PAC
• This initiative proposes the creation of an independent redistricting commission and require them to apportion Nevada’s representatives in the House of Representatives and the members of the Senate and the Assembly.
• Submitted language
• Related Story: Nevada redistricting commission ballot question filed again for 2022 ballot

Voter ID Verification

• Filed by David Gibbs on behalf of the Repair the Vote PAC
  • Gibbs is the chairman of the Clark County Republican Central Committee and ran unsuccessfully as a Republican to represent Nevada’s 4th Congressional District in 2018
• This initiative proposes the following changes to the Nevada Constitution:
  • Each voter in Nevada shall present photo identification to verify their identity when voting in person at a polling place during early voting or on election day before being provided a ballot.
  • Each voter in Nevada who votes by mail-in ballot shall enter personal identification information next to the voter's signature for election officials to use in verifying the voter's identity
• Submitted language
• Related Story: Proposed ballot measures seek voter ID, repeal of broad mail-in voting

School Vouchers – Congressional Amendment

• Filed by Erin Phillips on behalf of the Education Freedom PAC
  • Submitted as both a proposed Constitutional Amendment and a Statutory Initiative
• The initiative requires the Nevada Legislature to establish an education freedom account program under which parents may spend money appropriated by the Legislature into those accounts to pay for some or all of their child’s education outside the public school system
• The constitutional initiative says the money filtered into the accounts would be “comparable” to the state support a child receives at a public school; whereas, the statutory initiative says the grant would be equal to 90% of the statewide base per-pupil funding
• Submitted Language
• Related Story: Private school voucher debate poised for comeback, could be decided by voters

Initiative Petitions to Propose a New Statute or to Amend an Existing Statute

As a statutory initiative, the proposal first needs signatures from nearly 141,000 voters statewide, one quarter of the total from each congressional district. Signed petitions would go initially to counties for signature verification in late November, then to the secretary of state for certification.

If it qualifies, the initiative would go to the Legislature in 2023, becoming law if lawmakers approve it. It would then go before voters if the Legislature rejects it or takes no action.

“The Community School Districts Initiative”

• filed by Henderson City Councilman Dan Stewart on behalf of the Community Schools Initiative PAC
• Under this initiative, local governments would be allowed to “opt out” of county-wide school districts and pass ordinances asking their voters if they would prefer to form their own; these new districts would be smaller and directed by their own boards, while retaining state funding and honoring existing staff contracts.
• Submitted Language
• Related Story: Nevada initiative would allow new breakaway school districts

School Vouchers – Statutory Initiative

• Filed by Erin Phillips on behalf of the Education Freedom PAC
• Has the same objective as the proposed constitutional amendment though the statutory initiative also notes that the Legislature would need to appropriate money to the education freedom accounts.
• Submitted language

Referendum Petitions

A referendum seeks to approve or disapprove an existing state or local law. If the law subject to the referendum is approved by the voters, the law remains as is and cannot be changed in the future except by a direct vote of the people.  If the law subject to the referendum is disapproved, the law becomes void and of no effect.

Repeal of Mail-In Ballot Measures

• AB321, passed during the 2021 Legislative Session, made permanent several vote-by-mail measures that were initially enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• This Referendum Petition, filed by David Gibbs on behalf of the Repair the Vote PAC, focuses only on the provisions of AB321 that
  • require that each active registered voter be mailed a ballot
  • allow other people to turn in a ballot on behalf of a voter if the voter allows — a practice known as “ballot collection” or “ballot harvesting” and
  • the final date a ballot must be postmarked by in order to be considered valid
• Submitted Language

Just in case you missed it

Mark Z. Barabak, columnist for the LA Times sums up the battle inside the Nevada Democratic Party that could be detrimental to incumbents in the Silver State: A fight among Nevada Democrats is putting the party’s control of Congress in peril

Ranking the States Demographically, from Most Republican-Friendly to Most Democratic-Friendly – Sabato’s Crystal Ball

• Based on 3 variables that are increasingly linked with partisan voting patterns (education level, race, and urbanization), Nevada ranked 34/ 50, where 1 indicates the most Republican friendly.

Political News

On February 10^th, 2022, Governor Sisolak lifted the statewide mask mandate.

thenevadaindependent.com/article/governor-lifts-nevada-mask-mandate-effective-immediately-points-to-case-drops

Economic News

Nevada Housing market.

thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevadans-grapple-with-punishing-rent-hikes-even-as-economy-rebounds

vegasinc.lasvegassun.com/business/2022/feb/14/against-all-odds-the-souther-nevada-housing-market/

Gaming Control Board recommends approval for Apollo Global Management, Inc.’s acquisition of the Venetian, Palazzo, etc.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/control-board-recommends-approval-for-apollos-acquisition-of-venetian-2523229/

2021 Redistricting Maps

The new boundaries would give 14 of the 21 state Senate districts and 27 of the 42 Assembly districts a voter registration advantage for Democrats over Republicans of more than 4.5 percent.

The Nevada Independent

Please see the links below to view the new district lines for Nevada Assembly, Senate and Congressional delegation.

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