Vote Nevada Supporters,

We are heading into the fourth week of the legislative session and things are picking up, so, please be sure to check the scheduled meetings page for the bills to be heard this week. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/Calendar/A/

The Vote Nevada Nonpartisan Caucus is meeting tonight at 6 pm.  We are discussing the good governance bills and whether the legislation being proposed so far represents the needs of the people.  You can RSVP here to join us: https://vote-nevada.news/VN-Nonpartisan-Caucus-Meetings

In representative democracy, the people vote for fellow community members to represent their interests when writing bills and voting on various issues. Our current system of government at most levels is supposed to represent community needs. 

One weakness in this system, however, is that the two political parties have decided when a party member is elected, that the newly elected official should only represent the party’s interests and priorities.  The minority who voted for someone else are left out and lose their right to representation.  This causes frustration that can lead to extremism.

The other main weakness in this system, which seems to be growing worse with each election cycle, is the lack of direct communication between elected officials and the people they represent.

Due to uncompetitive races and campaigns that rely on ads, text messages, and mailers, many elected officials spend minimal time in their districts listening to broad swaths of their constituents.  And, for our legislators, due to the lack of staff during the interim, most community members have few, if any, opportunities to speak to them officially. 

This makes the legislative session the only time our legislators are “on the clock,” yet how often can you talk to legislators directly about what we want fixed?

Without town halls, true surveys, or other forms of authentic communication, we the people are often left out of our representative democracy.

We need governing processes that welcome more voices into the system. Showing up to speak in support or opposition of bills apparently isn’t possible for most voters, especially when opportunities to show up happen during the work day and can change from week to week.

So, tonight’s question is: Do we have bills that can make the government more representative of the people and our needs?

Please join us if you can, and 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 in…@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