Vote Nevada Supporters,

Our Candidate Forum tomorrow at the College of Southern Nevada, North Las Vegas Campus, has been jazzed up to include Artists4Democracy.  We invite community members to join us anytime between 9 a.m. and noon to speak with our top ballot candidates and engage with Artists4Democracy to make buttons, customized t-shirts, tote bags, and posters.  We are celebrating civic engagement through art!  All art supplies are provided for free.

Candidates are invited to spend as much time with us as possible, but with many different events scheduled tomorrow, we are accommodating candidate schedules as best as possible.  Community organizations such as Nevada NOW and Open Primaries will also join us to chat about the ballot question process.

Breakfast food and drinks will be available until we run out, so please stop by early for some snacks, juice or coffee, and a big scoop of civics and art.

Event details: Saturday, April 27^th, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the CSN N. LV Campus, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., 89030, Student Union Ballroom.

Campus map: https://www.csn.edu/about-us/campus-locations/nlv-campus

The other big news is our events with Katie Fahey from Slay the Dragon, documenting her journey to pass an independent redistricting commission ballot question in Michigan.  Katie has a new national coalition called Respect Voters, which recently kicked off to protect, strengthen, and expand the ballot initiative process. 

Katie will join us in Las Vegas on May 11th at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Rd, 89119, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Katie will speak about her ballot question experience in Michigan and her new coalition and answer questions. We will have refreshments. 

We will have a planning meeting in Las Vegas with Katie right after the Clark County Library event, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., at 3481 E. Sunset Rd #111, 89120.  At this second meeting, we will discuss how Nevada can actively protect, strengthen, and expand the ballot initiative process through Respect Voters.  

We are lucky in Nevada to have direct democracy tools to empower us to share in managing our state. However, our process is not threat-free, and many states have no direct democracy options. Therefore, we are in a prime position to play supporting and leading roles in this new coalition. We will have a virtual option.

Our second event with Katie is on May 12^th at the Nevada Discovery Museum, 490 S. Center Street, Reno 89501, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.  Katie will speak about her ballot question experience in Michigan and her new coalition and answer questions.  We will have refreshments.  Entrance into the Museum after the event is included.

If you would like to attend any of these events, in person or via Zoom, RSVP through this form: https://forms.gle/TuMGXuxwxFntHATg6

I hope to see you all at one or more of our events! 

Early voting for our primary starts May 25^th.  See election information here: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/election-2024-information/ 

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations; you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org; we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Early voting is quickly approaching, starting on May 25^th.  Determining which candidates will be on your primary ballot can be confusing. This Ballotpedia Sample Ballot tool is very helpful: https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Sample_Ballot_Lookup&Source=sidebar

However, not all down-ballot races are included, so you might also want to check your city’s website to see if you will vote in a city council race.

Please be aware that the number of people eligible to vote in the Las Vegas mayor’s race is much smaller than those with a Las Vegas address.   The City of Las Vegas is in green on this map: https://nevadacurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Map-Jurisdictional-Las-Vegas-Area-0218.pdf

The start time for the April 27th Qualities of an Effective Elected Official Workshop in Carson City has changed to 9 am.

We have a second Top-Ballot Candidate Forum on April 27^th, from 9 a.m. to Noon, at the CSN North Las Vegas Campus in the Student Union Ballroom. 42 candidates have RSVP’d, so please spread the word. Voters can stop by to chat with the candidates any time between 9 a.m. and Noon.

Here is a map of the campus: https://www.csn.edu/_csnmedia/documents/north-las-vegas-campus-map/2019nlvmap.pdf

We are also excited about an upcoming event with Katie Fahey, the young woman who led the successful effort to establish an independent redistricting commission in Michigan.

Katie will join us on May 11th in Las Vegas and May 12th in Reno to discuss passing the ballot initiative and her new organization, Respect Voters, which is working to protect the ballot initiative process. Please make sure to RSVP to attend in either city. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/875779729747?aff=oddtdtcreator

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations; you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org; we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Tomorrow is the Down-Ballot Open Primary Candidate Forum!  We have 47 candidates RSVP’d; you won’t find another event with this many candidates in one spot.  Our open primary races are judicial, Las Vegas mayor, city council, NSHE regents, and school board.  Even if you do not have these candidates on your ballot, I promise these races will impact you.  

Because these are open primary races, candidates appear together on one ballot, and anyone can vote; these races have no partisan restrictions. If you have friends registered as nonpartisan, please let them know they can vote in this part of our primary.

We will be in the Student Union Ballroom at the College of Southern Nevada North Las Vegas Campus, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave., N. Las Vegas, 89030. The candidates will be available to chat from 9 am to noon, so feel free to swing by anytime during these hours to ask your questions.  Civics is for everyone, so please bring the whole family.

Here is a campus map: https://www.csn.edu/_csnmedia/documents/north-las-vegas-campus-map/2019nlvmap.pdf

We will host the Top-Ballot Closed Primary Candidate Forum on April 27^th.  Same place, same time, and same format.  These races include the U.S. Senate, the Nevada Assembly and Senate, Congress, and the County Commission.  

Only voters registered Democrat or Republican will be allowed to vote, so there is a partisan restriction on participating in these races.  However, voters can affiliate with the two political parties up to and including election day through same-day voter registration.

Vote Nevada is doing everything possible to increase voter turnout in our primary election. On average, our primary turnout is around 22 percent, and in 2022, primary voter turnout for 18-to 34-year-old voters was a shocking 8.4 percent. Given that we often elect candidates to office in our primary, such a low turnout is very troubling.

Two events coming up include:

Build2Win is sponsoring a panel of distinguished county officials, past and present, to share their insights when they were in local government. Lyon and Storey County Commissioners, Ken Gray and Clay Mitchell, and Carson City Supervisor, Shelly Aldean, will tell us the secrets of their successes and lessons learned. Submit your questions to this esteemed panel by contacting  info@build2win.org

Saturday, April 27th 

Check-in at 9:30 am. Start at 10 am. 

Ormsby Room, 911 E Musser Street, in Carson City

Free to attend. Donations to Build2Win are welcome. 

SAVE THE DATE: In 2019, the movie Slay the Dragon chronicled Michigan resident Katie Fahey’s successful effort to create an independent redistricting commission through a ballot initiative.  Katie now runs the nonprofit The People, which works to expand and protect the power to run ballot initiatives in all 50 states.   https://www.slaythedragonfilm.com/  https://www.thepeople.org/

 Katie has accepted our invitation to visit Las Vegas and Reno for viewings of Slay the Dragon and a reception to meet her!  Save May 11^th in Las Vegas and May 12^th in Reno to join us for these viewings and receptions.

Lastly, under Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: How can you sign the petition to qualify the abortion rights ballot question for the November ballot?  A: Please contact Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom:  https://www.nv4reprofreedom.org/

 Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations; you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org; we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

The candidate filing period ended last Friday, March 15th, so we are reasonably sure who is running in each race.  Candidates have until March 26^th to withdraw from a race; therefore, we may see changes on March 27^th.

You can view the statewide list of candidates here: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showpublisheddocument/13227/638463816404542032

Meeting Updates:

Vote Nevada met with Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama on March 16^th to hear directly from her about her three transparency bill draft requests.  Vote Nevada strongly believes women should speak for themselves.  You can watch the meeting recording here: https://vote-nevada.news/Kasma-Transparency-Bills

In just a few days, Netflix will premier its Shirley Chisholm biopic!  You can read more here: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/shirley-regina-king-release-date-cast-photos

We are meeting in person and online on Friday, March 22nd, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to watch the movie together. You can attend in person at the CSN West Charleston Campus, Building K, room 101.  Here is a campus map: https://www.csn.edu/_csnmedia/documents/charleston-campus-map/2019charlestonmap.pdf

If you would like to join via Zoom, RSVP here: t.ly/7hwnu

On Saturday, March 23^rd, we have a special treat.  Civil rights leader Lisa Rice is joining us to chat about her work in Washington, D.C.  Lisa recently authored this opinion piece in The Hill on voting rights:  https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4483669-its-not-a-democracy-when-the-parties-control-our-elections/

And our Down-Ballot Candidate Forum is quickly approaching on March 30^th.  I reached out to candidates with contact information on record, but quite a few candidates failed to include a way to reach them. So I need a little help. 

If you know any candidates running in an open primary race (mayor, city council, judge, NSHE regent, state board of education, or school board trustee), please ask them to sign up for the Vote Nevada March 30^th Candidate Forum here: https://forms.gle/EVzpLJM2terrvZ3w6

Please also encourage family and friends to attend.  Voters can arrive anytime between 9 a.m. and Noon, speak to their candidates, and then return to their busy day.

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

If you are looking for candidates who have filed for office, there are a couple of lists.  A statewide list of candidates updated nightly is on the Secretary of State’s website: https://www.nvsos.gov/SOSCandidateServices/AnonymousAccess/CEFDSearchUU/CertCandList.aspx

If you click Filing Office at the top of the chart, the entries will reformat with the filing office listed alphabetically.

To find the candidates for a county or city race, go to the county or city’s website and then go to Elections.  For example, here is Clark County’s list of candidates: https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/departments/elections/services/cf.php

The last day to file is Friday, March 15^th.  After Friday, if a nonpartisan race has only one candidate that race will not have a primary election, instead, the one candidate will appear on the general election ballot. 

If only one candidate from a political party appears in a partisan race, there will be no primary election for that race for that party.  For example, if a race has one Democrat and two Republicans, there will be no Democratic primary election, while the Republicans will have a primary election.

Based on how things look right now, we may have no primary election in many partisan races. Hopefully, more candidates will file by Friday. 

I am reaching out to candidates with listed email addresses, but I could use some help reaching out to all the candidates who would like to participate in the Vote Nevada Candidate Forums. 

The March 30^th Candidate Forum is for down-ballot open primary races, which include the judicial races, the Las Vegas Mayor’s race, and the Clark County School Trustees races.  The April 27^th Candidate Forum is for our top-ballot closed primary races, which include all our legislative races.

Voters can attend both forums any time between 9 a.m. and Noon and stay just long enough to speak to their candidates and get their questions answered.  We are encouraging voters to bring the whole family! 

We also have three Women’s Empowerment Month events scheduled for March.  I hope you can join us.

RSVP for Assemblywoman Kasama’s Event here: t.ly/tBPiq

RSVP for the Shirley Chisholm biopic viewing here: t.ly/bUQ3P

RSVP to meet Lisa Rice here: t.ly/_EpKV

 Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Now that candidates are filing for office, it’s time to focus on our June 11^th primary. 

For some context, in 2016, the percentage of active voters who cast a primary ballot was 18.54 percent.  In 2018, the percentage of active voters who cast a primary ballot was 22.91 percent.  In 2020, the percentage of active voters who cast a primary ballot was 29.51 percent.  In 2022, the percentage of active voters who cast a primary ballot was 25.77 percent.

While the number of voters casting a primary ballot is going up, the percentage of eligible voters participating is still concerning.   We patted ourselves on the back for turning out almost 30 percent of active voters in 2020, but that is still an unacceptably low number. 

Why should we care? All voting matters.

The June primary election is much more than the two political parties picking their nominees for the general election.  In our down-ballot races, including judges, mayors, city councils, NSHE regents, and school board trustees, everyone can vote because these are all nonpartisan open primary races.  The top two candidates move forward unless a candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, then that person wins in the primary. 

That’s right, we can elect candidates in our primary.  An example is the Clark County sheriff’s race in 2022.

Because our primary election is so important, Vote Nevada is launching a Be A Primary Voter Campaign to raise awareness of all the election functions that happen in June and to ask voters to tune in and show out to vote. Students and community members are already helping to build up our social media materials, primary election resources, and fundraising to host voter turnout events.

Vote Nevada is hosting two candidate forums.  First, is our March 30^th Down-Ballot Candidate Forum and second is our April 27^th Top-Ballot Candidate Forum.  Both events will be at the College of Southern Nevada North Las Vegas Campus, from 9 a.m. to Noon. 

During each forum, candidates will have reserved table space and voters can attend any time during the event.  Bring the family, ask candidates your questions, and then you can leave when you’re done.

Save the dates, please, and share this information with your friends.

It’s also Women’s Empowerment Month, so, on March 5th the Represent Women Democracy Solutions Summit 2024 begins and goes through March 7^th.  The Summit is virtual and when you register you’ll be added to the list to receive the panel recordings after the Summit ends.  You can read more about the Summit and register here: https://www.representwomen.org/democracy_solutions_summit

On March 22^nd the Netflix Shirley Chisholm biopic premiers and we are co-hosting a hybrid watch party.  The in-person site is the CSN West Charleston Blvd. Campus, Building K room 101.  Here is a campus map: t.ly/7zIlG 

You can register for the Zoom option here: t.ly/bUQ3P

The next day, March 23^rd, meet Washington D.C. civil rights leader, Lisa Rice.  Lisa works on democracy reform in our nation’s capital.  Our Lisa Rice event is on March 23^rd at 9 a.m. via Zoom, you can RSVP here: t.ly/ke281

And I just received confirmation that we’ll be Zooming with University of Utah basketball player Alissa Pili, from Anchorage, Alaska, soon. Alissa is Samoan and Inupiaq.  The Utes are playing in the PAC 12 tournament this week and then we will be scheduling time to chat with this indigenous women’s basketball star. https://kslsports.com/510964/utah-wbb-star-alissa-pili-native-people/

Thanks for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

It’s Black History Month, so I would like to shine a great big spotlight on a Black woman who needs more attention.  We now recognize Dolores Huerta for her role in the worker rights movement, let’s do the same for Shirley Chisholm and her role in the civil rights movement. 

Shirley was the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black woman to run for president in one of the major parties.

Here is a summary of Shirley Chisholm’s historic run for the presidency:

https://youtu.be/rHYFJVOCEVI?si=u7hjgZHhGSITv4zn

Please join Vote Nevada and the CSN Women’s Alliance for a viewing and discussion of Netflix’s new Shirley Chisholm biopic on Friday, March 22^nd at the West Charleston Campus, Build K-101, from 6 to 8 pm. 

You can view the CSN West Charleston map here:   

https://www.csn.edu/_csnmedia/documents/charleston-campus-map/2019charlestonmap.pdf  

The room in the K building is where the 1 is on the K building on the map.

You can RSVP for the hybrid Zoom option to watch the Shirley Chisholm biopic here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlc–qpj0qGd0cpCnvK247RSbe_vx0gLlb

Please also sign up for our Civics Ambassador Training!  You can earn a $25 stipend for completing the training and a $50 stipend for volunteering at events such as the Vote Nevada candidate forums.  Email info@vote-nevada.org to participate.

The Interim Legislative Education Committee meets tomorrow at 9 am.  You can view the meeting materials and the hearing here: 

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2023/Meeting/34475?committeeId=1981

Coming soon! Be a Primary Voter Campaign.

Thanks for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Here are some updates:

The Interim Legislative Education Committee will meet on February 5, 2024, at 9 am.  You can attend in person or view the hearing online, the same as committee meetings during the legislative session.  The difference with the interim hearings is that Southern Nevada legislators could be in the hearing room at the Grant Sawyer Building.  You can review the agenda and presentation materials here:  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2023/Meeting/34475

There is a movie camera icon above the agenda that will activate before the hearing starts; you can click on that icon to view the hearing online.  The hearing’s overall theme is the state of education, which includes recruitment and retention of teachers. 

I am currently the Vice Chair of the Nevada Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and we just released our latest study on the Teacher and Professional Staff Shortages and Equity in Education in Nevada.  You can read the study, which includes policy recommendations, here: https://www.usccr.gov/files/2024-01/teacher-and-professional-staff-shortages-and-equity-in-education-report.pdf

2024 is an election year, so, if you have voted via a mail-in ballot in the presidential preference primary, you can track your ballot.  Please sign up to track your mail-in ballot; we already have at least 3,600 mail-in ballots that have been rejected and so have not been counted until something is fixed.  https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-primary-turnout-more-than-90000-votes-cast-mostly-by-mail

You can track your ballot here: https://nevada.ballottrax.net/voter/

It’s also time for candidate forums and civics education about voting and elections.  If you know anyone who would be interested in completing civics training and volunteering to help with two large candidate forums, please pass along this information:

The candidate forums will happen on March 30^th for all open primary down-ballot races and April 27^th for all closed primary top-ballot races.  If you know someone who is running for office, please share this information.  Anyone who participates in the civics training mentioned above will be eligible to volunteer to help manage the candidate forums.

Lastly, Netflix is honoring Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run to be president of the United States, with a new biopic that premiers on March 22^nd! 

Vote Nevada and the CSN Women’s Alliance are co-hosting a watch party on March 22^nd at the CSN West Charleston Campus from 6 to 8 pm, in Building K-101. 

You can view the CSN West Charleston map here:  https://www.csn.edu/_csnmedia/documents/charleston-campus-map/2019charlestonmap.pdf  The room in the K building is where the 1 is on the K building on the map.

You can RSVP for the hybrid Zoom option to watch the biopic here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlc–qpj0qGd0cpCnvK247RSbe_vx0gLlb

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

We had a good discussion about Shirley Chisholm on Saturday; there was so much to say about Shirley and her legacy that the meeting ran for 90 minutes.  You can watch the recording here: https://vote-nevada.news/ShirleyChisholm

We will have more meetings like this one over the next year.  Shirley Chisholm lived a very instructive life, so, it will take us some time to fully unpack her legacy and to act where she left off.

Friday was the last day to file to run for a judicial seat and the number of contested races is very low, so, instead of hosting a separate judicial candidates forum on February 10, we will include our judicial candidates in the down-ballot, open primary races candidate forum on March 30^th.   Our top-of-the-ticket closed primary races candidate forum will be on April 27^th. 

Both forums will be from 9 a.m. to noon and voters can participate at any time to ask the candidates questions.  We are trying to coordinate so we can host both candidate forums in Las Vegas, Carson City, Reno, and Elko simultaneously.  I will send more information as the details become finalized.

In concert with the candidate forums, Vote Nevada is also offering a new Civics Ambassadors program.  Participants can earn community service hours and some extra income.  We need as many Nevadans as possible to level up their civics knowledge to ensure every voter understands this year’s election processes and can cast a ballot that will count. 

There were over 10,000 ballots between the primary and general elections in 2022 that were not counted due to some type of uncured error.  Let’s commit to doing what we can to bring that number down in 2024.  If we all help each other, I’m sure we can.

If you are interested in participating in the Civics Ambassador program, here is the information:

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

 Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues. You can now donate to Vote Nevada through PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L423L7FBMMBEA

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Reminder: Let’s celebrate Shirley Chisholm on Saturday, January 13^th, from 9 to 10 a.m., via Zoom.  Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress and the first woman to run for president under one of the two political parties. Her autobiography is titled Unbought and Unbossed, join us on the 13th to discuss why she picked that title. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Lets-Chat-Shirley-Chisholm

Thanks to everyone who logged into the Interim Strategic Planning Session.  We discussed SB72, which is the 2023 bill that requires the interim education committee to study 6 things, and how our interests aligned with those 6 areas of study.  You can review the 6 items here under View Title and Digest:  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bill/9651/Overview

We spent most of our time discussing the issue of bills that pass but are not implemented with fidelity, which is a growing problem.  Our discussion included what we can do to ensure bills are implemented and those who are tasked with implementation are held accountable.  You can watch the meeting recording here: https://vote-nevada.news/InterimStrategy2024

We discussed a 2019 bill, AB329, which would have required agencies and offices to report progress on implementing laws to the Legislative Council Bureau during the interim.  It passed out of committee and on the floor of the Assembly, but then Senate Democrats refused to give it a hearing.  You can read the bill and see its hearings here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Bill/6612/Overview

We also discussed a second 2019 bill, AB146, which would have created an Inspector General Office to handle independent investigations.  It had a $1.8 million fiscal note and failed to receive a hearing.  You can review that bill here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/80th2019/Bill/6217/Overview

This was not the first attempt to create an Inspector General Office.  In 2017 there were two Inspector General bills. AB201 from Republican Assemblyman Edwards: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/79th2017/Bill/4993/Overview

And AB404 from Democrats Assemblywomen Miller, Benitez-Thompson, and Assemblyman McCurdy: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/79th2017/Bill/5482/Overview 

The question for us is: What can we do to ensure laws are implemented with fidelity?

One option we’ve had up to now is to run a solution to a problem as a ballot question, but we may no longer have the ability to run constitutional amendment ballot questions beyond very narrow policy questions.  In the 2022 Nevada Supreme Court ruling Ed. Freedom PAC v. Reid for the first time the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that this part of the Nevada Constitution, Article 19 Sec. 6, means that both statutory ballot initiatives and constitutional amendment initiatives require the sponsor to include a funding mechanism if the outcome will require new funding.  Previously, this section of the Nevada Constitution was interpreted to only apply to statutory initiatives and statutory amendments, not constitutional amendments.

This Article does not permit the proposal of any statute or statutory amendment which makes an appropriation or otherwise requires the expenditure of money, unless such statute or amendment also imposes a sufficient tax, not prohibited by the Constitution, or otherwise constitutionally provides for raising the necessary revenue.

 Under this interpretation, all it will take to remove the constitutional right to run a ballot initiative to amend the Nevada Constitution will be to go to court and claim that the amendment will require even $1 of new funding.   Under this new ruling, one tool of direct democracy is now in grave danger of being lost.

We elect judges in Nevada and so we will have an opportunity to speak about this issue with anyone running for a Nevada Supreme Court seat. I am also working on a panel discussion of tools to strengthen democracy, with ballot questions playing a prominent role, including a very special guest.

I am tracking the interim committees, and some have scheduled meetings, but there are no agendas posted just yet. I will let you know when the interim education committee schedules meetings and when agendas begin to appear.  You can see the interim meeting schedule here:  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2023/Meetings

Save the Date!  In the last election cycle, Vote Nevada co-sponsored very successful candidate forums for the Clark County School Board seats.  We invited the candidates to come to a library in their district to stand at a table with their campaign materials and answer questions from voters.  Voters could attend any time during the event, ask their questions, and then leave when satisfied.  And kids were always welcome. 

So, we will be co-sponsoring similar events for all judicial candidates on February 10^th and all down-ballot races on March 30^th.  With this being a presidential election cycle, we must ensure voters have good information about local races.  The time is tentatively from 9 am to noon, while the location is the North Las Vegas Campus of the College of Southern Nevada.

We are also happy to announce we have partners in Carson City, Reno/Sparks, and Elko who will be running similar forums in those cities.

Finally, the presidential preference primary is fast approaching, here are resources to share: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/election-2024-information/

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here:  https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

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