2026

Vote Nevada Supporters,

If you were unable to attend the soft launch of our Nevada History and Civics Project, you can watch the recording here: https://vote-nevada.news/NevadansForNevada

In a nutshell, Vote Nevada received a grant to create a public history and civics education program.

Nevada has one of the fastest growing populations of voters, especially nonpartisan voters. To ensure every voter can confidently cast a ballot, we must welcome each and every one with virtual hugs and the tools needed to be engaged as Nevadans.

Why did Vote Nevada receive this grant? Vote Nevada is stepping up with hugs and tools.

I am a history professor who specializes in the U.S. West, and I have taught U.S. and Nevada history for twenty-five years, including U.S. and Nevada civics. I have taught online and hybrid classes for twenty-two years, so I understand the methods for delivering virtual lessons. All my course materials are easily transferable, so I will not be starting from scratch.

Ultimately, this project aims to help all voters, but especially those who have newly turned 18, recently moved to Nevada, or who are registered as a nonpartisan. Many voters often need a crash course to understand not only how we manage elections, but also why we’ve adopted unique voting and election rules.

When voters ask me questions, they almost always ask how and then why.

It’s not enough to know Nevada elects its judges, it’s important to also know why we elect judges. It is the history of this election practice that empowers voters to cast a ballot in judicial elections. This history is also needed if you want to propose changes to the process.

I have been actively involved in issue advocacy since 2009 through many different nonpartisan organizations, and I have been the Executive Director of Vote Nevada since 2021. I am familiar with the processes for achieving better outcomes, whether it’s through the legislature, the county commission, the Board of Regents, or the local town advisory board.

This translates into expertise in civic mapping for advocacy.

The Vote Nevada website and blog document this work: https://vote-nevada.org/ https://vote-nevada-blog.org/

In addition to providing a foundation of historical and civics-based information, this project will include space for personal histories submitted by Nevadans, as well as individual pages for each wonderful Nevada city and town. To facilitate these goals, the Nevada History and Civics Project will use interactive online tools to allow anyone to participate.

To assist Nevadans who are problem solvers, Vote Nevada is partnering with a digital democracy platform called WeVote. WeVote increases the project’s civic engagement capacity. Once a voter feels ready to engage in advocacy, WeVote provides the tools to create issue-solving proposals.

Users generated proposals in WeVote can gather community feedback; and if the proposal gains enough support, Vote Nevada will assist with advocacy planning and implementation.

In summary, Vote Nevada received a grant to create a Nevada History and Civics Project to help new and unaffiliated voters, to give Nevadans space to share about our great state, and to facilitate problem solving.

The official launch is on the first day of early voting, May 23, 2026, at 10 AM, via a statewide Zoom webinar. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/NevadaHistoryCivics

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

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 Update 5/7/2026

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

Join us for a Zoom meeting this Saturday, May 9^th, at 9:00 AM to hear about our new voter education and engagement project. The meeting will be recorded to share afterward.

Vote Nevada received a grant to create a public civics education program to empower all Nevadans to be civically engaged. We are calling it our “Nevada belongs to Nevadans” project.

First, we are creating a public Nevada History and Civics platform with historical information about how Nevada became a state and then developed into our home. Included, will be analysis of our state constitution, the organization and operation of state and local government, and an overview of how we manage elections.

Opportunities for Nevadans to contribute personal stories, images, documents, and videos from across our beautiful state will be included.

Second, connected to this education resource will be a civic engagement platform Vote Nevada is partnering with call WeVote. WeVote allows engagers to create proposals for addressing issues, big and small.

Participants will be able to rank proposals using a civics rating scale to gauge viability. The top vote getters will have opportunities to recruit action teams to work on their proposals.

We are not creating a poll or a list of complaints, instead proposals must demonstrate an understanding of a problem, lay out a solution that aligns with our state’s history and rules of governance, and account for any fiscal expenditure, in other words, funding.

Finally, to kick things off statewide, Vote Nevada is hosting a statewide webinar on May 23, 2026, the first day of early voting, to discuss how to make Nevada belong to Nevadans.

To learn more, please RSVP for our May 9^th Zoom meeting at 9 AM:

https://vote-nevada.news/VoterEducationProject

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 Update 4/30/2026

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

Please join the CSN Women’s Alliance on Saturday, May 2nd, any time between 9 and Noon, at the West Charleston Campus, in the Student Union, to chat with nonpartisan candidates. The event is family-friendly with crafts and snacks. (Adults will be required to chat with the candidates before partaking of the crafts and snacks.) 😊

Sample Ballots are arriving for the primary election, except for those nonpartisan voters who do not have any primary races. This happens when no more than two candidates file to run in one of our open primary elections, such as city council, judicial seats, school board, Regents, and sheriff. In these instances, the candidates advance to the general election automatically.

If you are not registered to vote or would like to check your registration, you can do so through your online voter registration account here: https://registertovote.nv.gov/

Lastly, Vote Nevada has received a grant to engage in voter education and engagement, especially among new and nonpartisan voters. So, I will be creating a publicly available online Nevada history and civics course, based on the Saturday Civics classes, and connecting it to a new digital media platform called the WeVote Project that allows participants to respectfully discuss issues we need to address in Nevada. More news about this voter education and engagement initiative will be coming soon.

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada Update 4/4/2026

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

You may have seen Carson City Clerk-Recorder Scott Hoen’s post about how many nonpartisan and third-party voters will not receive a primary election ballot in May. The number of impacted voters is 15,497. That’s thousands of voters.

According to Nevada election laws, our local elections are already open primaries, so races for mayor, city council, sheriff, school board, and Board of Regents, as well as all our judicial races, are currently open primaries.

If only one person files to run for any of these offices, that person is automatically elected. If there are only two candidates, the election proceeds to the general election without a primary vote. And if there are three or more candidates, any candidate who receives 50+1 votes wins the primary.

In Carson City, in the open primary races, all the candidates either won outright or are proceeding directly to the general election. That means if you are registered as a nonpartisan or with a third party in Carson City, you will not receive a primary election ballot. These voters will be hearing about an important election, yet they will not receive a ballot. This will be very confusing.

The typical response to this problem is that these voters can simply join a political party to gain the right to vote in all races. The parties, however, are private organizations that have no constitutional authority to require voters to join a party to participate in taxpayer-funded elections. The parties have no more constitutional standing than the president.

Vote Nevada supports the equal protection clause of the 14^th Amendment and therefore opposes any barrier to voting. All eligible voters must have the right to be treated equally and fairly in all taxpayer-funded elections.

Whether you agree or disagree, please join me tomorrow, Sunday, April 5^th, at 6 PM on the platform WeVote for a discussion of this issue.

You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/RSVPVotingRights

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

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 Update 3/21/2026

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

We are officially in primary election season, so it’s time to meet the candidates!

A list of most candidates is on the Secretary of State’s website, but you will need to look up candidates for local offices on the individual city elections department webpages.

Here’s the Secretary of State’s spreadsheet: https://www.nvsos.gov/SOSCandidateServices/AnonymousAccess/CEFDSearchUU/CertCandList.aspx

Early voting starts May 23^rd, and election day is June 9^th.

Now is a good time to check your voter registration to ensure your information is up to date. Log in to your online voter registration account here: https://registertovote.nv.gov/

You can also find links to election information on the Secretary of State’s website and your county election offices’ webpages. https://www.nvsos.gov/ and https://www.nvsos.gov/elections/voters/county-clerk-contact-information

Nevada has closed primaries in the top of the ballot races, so the County Commission races up to our congressional delegation, but all municipal and judicial races are open primaries.

Nonpartisans are not allowed to vote in the closed primary races. If you would like to vote in the closed primaries, you must affiliate with one of the political parties.

Vote Nevada is continuing to gather signatures for our Respect Nevada Voters ballot questions. We strongly believe every eligible voter must have the same voting rights in all taxpayer-funded elections. https://vote-nevada-blog.org/voting-rights-ballot-questions-2026/

Our Saturday Civics series just hit episode 10 and will continue through the end of April.

You can view past meeting recordings here https://vote-nevada-blog.org/saturday-civics-recordings/ and RSVP to receive the Zoom link for future meetings here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QOJ0I89SRmiSQzXEvuimLg#/registration if you’d like to join us.

We are partnering with the CSN Women’s Alliance to host a local offices candidate forum on May 2^nd, from 9 AM to Noon, at the CSN West Charleston Campus Student Union, 6375 W. Charleston BLVD, Las Vegas, NV 89146.

Candidates can RSVP here:

If you have general questions, such as “How does the filibuster work?”, you can email or text me, see below.

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

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 Update 1/22/2026

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

Reminders:

Tomorrow, the Board of Regents Special Meeting starts at 9:30 am at the NSHE System Office, 4300 South Maryland Parkway, Board Room. The first item is public comment, which allows individuals to speak for 2 minutes on any agenda item. You can speak in person or by phone, and you can submit written comments as well. The tuition increase is Agenda Item #5.

The meeting will livestream from the NSHE homepage: https://nshe.nevada.edu/

The information for calling in and providing written public comments is here https://nshe.nevada.edu/regents/upcoming-meetings/

The staff and institution reports are much more detailed than those from the December meeting. You can view the reports and presentations through the agenda. Go to the meeting agenda and click on the blue hyperlinks under item #5.

https://nshe.nevada.edu/html/wp-content/uploads/file/BoardOfRegents/Agendas/2026/01-jan-mtgs/BOR012326.pdf

You can also listen to my review of the presentations here: https://vote-nevada.news/RegentsJan23Meeting

We kicked off the Saturday Civics series last week. All the meeting recordings will be posted here: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/saturday-civics-recordings/ We reviewed why it’s important to pair history and civics, and how Nevada became a state.

This Saturday, January 24th, 9-10 AM, via Zoom, we will chat about the deal that allowed Nevada to become a state during the Civil War and how that deal included certain stipulations be added to our state constitution. We’ll then read through the document to see what else was added.

If you are interested in joining us, you can register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QOJ0I89SRmiSQzXEvuimLg#/registration

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: A Voice for Independent Nevadans

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 Update 1/11/2026

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

We hosted a very informative meeting with Travis Misurell, from the Future is Now Coalition, on January 10th. It was a great prelude to Doug Goodman’s latest data analysis of Nevada’s voter registration statistics, which came out today.

https://nevadansforelectionreform.wordpress.com/2026/01/11/non-partisan-voter-share-has-largest-year-over-year-gain-since-2000/

If Nevada is going to be an equal rights state, we need equal voting rights, which is why we invited Travis to speak with us about his ideas for digital democracy. You can hear his presentation here: https://vote-nevada.news/MeetTravisMisurell

Speaking of civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is fast approaching, so I wanted to share information about the parade on January 19th and the associated events.

Here’s the King Week event website: https://kingweeklasvegas.com/

One of the events on Friday, January 16^th,is co-sponsored by Vote Nevada. This is the first Shirley Chisholm Early Learning Symposium.

Many are unaware that Shirley Chisholm began as an early childhood educator before entering elected office. You can attend this event in person or via Zoom.

If you would like to join via Zoom, RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FjbPrt9BQ7Onnxop-dBk2w#/registration

On Saturday, January 17th, we are hosting training on how to gather ballot question signatures for Vote Nevada’s three ballot questions. If you are interested, please join us at 8 AM on Saturday via Zoom. You can RSVP here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QzRR29ChTfi25Ws9p3FQ_w#/registration

And right after the signature gathering training, we are kicking off the first Vote Nevada Civics and History 101 class.

From 9 to 10 AM each Saturday until May 2nd, you can join us via Zoom to chat about Nevada’s government, elected offices, budget issues, and funding. We will connect the information you need with the offices on your June primary ballot.

RSVP for as many classes as you’d like, here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QOJ0I89SRmiSQzXEvuimLg#/registration

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 Update: 12/23/2025

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

We are nearing the end of 2025 and getting ready to plunge into 2026, so hold tight!

Here are the Vote Nevada training sessions and events we have scheduled so far:

The Interim Legislative Session begins January 6^th. This is when legislators meet in joint committees that reflect the legislative committee structure. Legislators will hear presentations and public comments on issues that could become bills in the 2027 legislative session.

Now is the time to raise issues we, the people, would like to see addressed in 2027.

To prepare, Vote Nevada is hosting Advocacy During the Interim Session 2026 on Saturday, January 3rd, from 9 to 10 AM via Zoom. Even if you cannot attend, RSVP to receive the recording https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/UCa99yKuR8GCRpXJh0Dirw

You can view the committees and the interim session calendar here https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2025/Meetings

I met democracy entrepreneur Travis Misurell recently to discuss his vision for a digital democracy platform called the Future Is Now. His ideas are very intriguing, so I’ve asked him to join us on Saturday, January 10^th, from 9 to 10 AM, via Zoom. We will chat about the rollout of this new platform and ways we can participate.

You can look over the Future Is Now website before our meeting here https://futureis.org/

RSVP for the meeting with Travis here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6qU8B_zrQA6-f0w44dFrfQ

On Friday, January 9^th, from 8 to 9 AM, via Zoom, join me for a Board of Regents Agenda Review for the special January 16^thRegents meeting. The agenda will include presentations scheduled for the meeting, so we can go over that information and discuss possible points to raise in public comments. The January 16^thmeeting will include the proposed tuition increase that was not voted on at the December Regents meeting.

I will send the recording to everyone who RSVPs, so sign up even if you cannot attend https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Q3c5GmWjStW_rtBqywMzYA

On Friday, January 16^th, 5:30 to 7:00 PM, the CSN Women’s Alliance and Vote Nevada are kicking off the MLK Jr. weekend with our first Shirley Chisholm Early Learning Panel: Cursive Writing. This is a hybrid event, so you can attend in person or via Zoom.

In person, please come to the CSN North Las Vegas Campus, Building A, Room 1772. 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave. NLV 89030. RSVP here to receive an event reminder and campus map https://forms.gle/3qe5ndpGCe9GbQRR8

If you would like to join us via Zoom, RSVP here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/FjbPrt9BQ7Onnxop-dBk2w

2026 Primary Election Video Voter Guide. Vote Nevada is offering a video voter guide for our primary races. Each candidate can submit a 3-minute video that we will make available on the Vote Nevada YouTube page. We will also provide a video civics explainer for each race, along with a guide to researching the candidates.

Candidates can fill out this form to receive an invitation to submit a video for the voter guide: https://forms.gle/8cyXcKcUNm8maB4EA

I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holidays!

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada Update 12/9/2025

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

A few pre-holiday updates:

Here are the 13 bills the Governor signed from the special session:

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/36th2025Special/Bills/Passed/BecameLaw

The interim legislative session begins January 6^th. You can read more about the interim session and see the meeting dates here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2025

The interim committees are included on this page. You can see which legislators are on each committee by clicking on the associated committee link. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/InterimCommittee/REL/Interim2025/CommitteeList

To prepare, Vote Nevada is offering its “Advocacy During the Interim Legislative Session Training” on January 3, 2026, from 9 to 10 AM via Zoom. RSVP here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/UCa99yKuR8GCRpXJh0Dirw

I will share the meeting recording afterward.

You may have also heard about the drama at the Nevada System of Higher Education Regents meeting last Friday. It was even more tense than what was reported in the news.

The proposed hefty tuition increase vote was postponed until January 16^th, so I will be discussing why and what may be next at a “What happened at the Regents meeting?” update on Friday, December 12^th, from 8 to 9 AM, via Zoom. RSVP:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8NIX4tWgRyKj0IG6LUBNOw

I will share the meeting recording afterward.

Finally, our Respect Nevada Voters ballot question signature gathering campaign is underway. We are asking supporters to Sign Up to Sign so we can set up petition signature-gathering events right after the holidays.

More information here: https://vote-nevada-blog.org/voting-rights-ballot-questions-2026/

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 Update 11/7/2025

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Vote Nevada Supporters,

Below is our press release announcing the signature gathering phase of our ballot question process.

We are scheduling two meetings next weekend to review the ballot questions and discuss our signature-gathering strategy. These two meetings will provide identical information, so you only need to attend one.

November 15^th, 9 to 10 AM, via Zoom, RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Vote-Nevada-Ballot-Questions-Meeting-I

RSVP information for the second identical meeting:

November 16^th, 7 to 8 PM, via Zoom, PSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Vote-Nevada-Ballot-Question-Meeting-II

Sondra

Press Release

Vote Nevada PAC is pleased to announce that our three ballot initiatives have completed the initial phase of the ballot petition process without any legal challenges, allowing us to begin collecting signatures. We are confident we will exceed the 148,788 signatures required to place all three on the November 2026 ballot.

Every Nevada voter has the right to fair and equal participation and treatment in our election and governance processes. While the political parties may view things differently, they lack the same constitutional standing as voters. In fact, the U.S. Constitution does not even mention political parties.

We have already begun speaking with fellow Nevadans about our ballot petitions to answer any questions. If necessary, we are prepared to hold a public debate on the role of voters in our electoral and governing processes.

Six amendments to the U.S. Constitution expanded the right to vote, while no amendments even recognize the political parties. These private entities, therefore, have no legal or historical standing to determine who is allowed to participate in our representative democracy.

Currently, 787,815 Nevadans (37% of total active voters) are registered as Non-Partisan, making their voices increasingly crucial in determining election outcomes. Almost 44% are not affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican Party. The data and polling show that this is not by accident. Nevadans are dissatisfied with the status quo.

The American experiment began with bold ideas and an openness to new practices. If we are who we claim to be, then a revival of bold ideas and new practices should be included in our electoral dialogue. Part of that dialogue is recognizing that every eligible voter has constitutional protections.

Neither party can win without nonpartisan votes, so now is the time to welcome them into our civic society, and Vote Nevada is ready to step into that role. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager formally recognized this by introducing Assembly Bill 597 at the end of the last legislative session.

Here are our three ballot petitions: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/elections/2026-petitions

(Every eligible voter has a right) To fully participate in all publicly funded elections without limitations, including, but not limited to, any requirement to affiliate with any private organization, such as a political party.
(Every eligible voter has a right) To have equal rights and treatment in all aspects of representative government without regard to political party affiliation, including, but not limited to, processes that determine representation through apportionment and redistricting.

Sec. 6. Limitation on initiative making appropriation or requiring expenditure of money. 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.

The limitation in this Section does not apply to the proposal of any initiative that would amend the Nevada Constitution, however, if any potential appropriation or expenditure of money may result from such an initiative, the description of effect for the initiative shall include the following language: ‘This initiative petition may require an appropriation or otherwise require the expenditure of money.’