The Secretary of State’s office today released voter registration numbers for August. There are no surprises. The number of voters registered as Non-Partisan continues to climb; 18.9 percent of active voters and 19.4 percent of total voters. When those registered to minor parties are included, 25.2 percent of active voters and 25.9 percent of total voters are not affiliated with either the Democrat or Republican Party. Younger voters, those 18 – 34 years of age, continue to register 10 percent higher than state totals.
These numbers highlight the need for the Nevada Election Modernization and Reform Act (NEMRA). If the major political parties want to strengthen Nevada’s electoral process, welcome those whose ideas may not be ideologically pure to the party, if they do not want to ignore over 25 percent of registered voters (35 percent of younger voters), and if they want to strengthen the party rather than continue to lose membership, all that is needed to start the discussion is for one legislator to file the BDR for NEMRA.
Given the continuing trend in voter registration numbers, there is no reason not to have this discussion during the 2015 legislative session. The citizens of Nevada deserve no less.