By Doug Goodman -Founder & Executive Director Nevadans for Election Reform – January 15, 2021
Ever wonder how many votes it takes to win an election? If you are running for office in Nevada, not as many as you may think.
Since 2016, 23 candidates have been elected to either the state legislature or county-wide positions with as little as five percent (5%) of the voters in their district. If you are confused, wondering how this could happen or if in fact it is legal, continue reading.
Prior to 2015 if either only the Democratic or Republican Party had candidates for a partisan office; if Democratic candidates and no Republican, minor party, or Non-Partisan candidates, if Republican candidates and no Democratic, minor party, or Non-Partisan candidates, the top two candidates in the primary would go on the general election ballot so all voters could vote for their preferred candidate. Under our current election process this is the way it should be,
This changed during the 2015 legislative session. Under SB499, under the conditions outlined above, the winner of the primary (keep in mind Nevada uses closed primaries where only members of the party are allowed to vote), goes on the general election ballot unopposed. This means they were elected in the primary where less than 30 percent (30%) of party members bother to vote and non-party members; a clear majority of voters in any given district had no say.
If we look at the 2016, 2018, and 2020 election cycle, the 23 candidates that were elected with an average of 15 percent of the vote of party members and seven (7) percent of the vote of all voters in their district. This is not only unfair to voters but also to the winning candidate who hardly has a mandate of their constituents.
| 2016 | ||||||||||
| Dist | Candidate | Party | # Candidates | Winning vote | Total votes | Total Party Reg | T/O | Total Reg | % Party | % dist |
| SD4 | Atkiinson | D | 2 | 3,926 | 5,892 | 27,424 | 21.48% | 66,828 | 14.32% | 5.87% |
| AD13 | Anderson | R | 3 | 1,738 | 2,796 | 14,258 | 19.61% | 34,721 | 12.19% | 5.01% |
| AD19 | Edwards | R | 2 | 1,960 | 3,203 | 12,156 | 26.35% | 31,256 | 16.12% | 6.27% |
| AD26 | Krasner | R | 2 | 3,448 | 6,232 | 20,324 | 30.66% | 44,439 | 16.97% | 7.76% |
| Avg | 24.53% | 14.90% | 6.23% | |||||||
| 2018 | ||||||||||
| SD10 | Cancela | D | 2 | 2,854 | 4,725 | 25,533 | 18.51% | 52,311 | 11.18% | 5.46% |
| AD24 | Peters | D | 4 | 1,780 | 3,784 | 14,719 | 25.71% | 32,599 | 12.09% | 5.46% |
| AD33 | Ellison | R | 2 | 4,175 | 5,375 | 17,052 | 31.52% | 30,701 | 24.48% | 13.60% |
| AD42 | Assefa | D | 3 | 1,399 | 2,529 | 11,590 | 21.82% | 24,875 | 12.07% | 5.62% |
| ClK DA | Wolfson | D | 2 | 54,347 | 97,306 | 419,042 | 23.22% | 996,375 | 12.97% | 5.45% |
| Churchill Clk | Rothery | R | 2 | 2,273 | 3,107 | 13,264 | 23.42% | 29,471 | 17.14% | 7.71% |
| Douglas Assessor | Tholen | R | 2 | 4,222 | 8,226 | 18,147 | 45.33% | 33,452 | 23.27% | 12.62% |
| Eureka Clk | Hoehne | R | 2 | 266 | 444 | 690 | 64.35% | 974 | 38.55% | 27.31% |
| Lincoln DA | Frehner | R | 2 | 502 | 815 | 1,654 | 49.27% | 2,774 | 30.35% | 18.10% |
| Lyon Treas | Bryan | R | 2 | 4,249 | 5,383 | 17,268 | 31.17% | 34,349 | 24.61% | 12.37% |
| Nye Admin | Stumne | R | 2 | 3,268 | 4,735 | 13,289 | 35.63% | 27,813 | 24.59% | 11.75% |
| Pershing Assessor | Basso-Cerini | R | 2 | 472 | 688 | 1,318 | 52.20% | 2,424 | 35.81% | 19.47% |
| Storey DA | Langer | R | 2 | 458 | 846 | 1,562 | 54.16% | 3,085 | 29.32% | 14.85% |
| White Pine Clk | Baldwin | R | 2 | 553 | 1,008 | 2,268 | 44.44% | 4,488 | 24.38% | 12.32% |
| Avg | 24.16% | 14.56% | 7.12% | |||||||
| 2020 | ||||||||||
| SD7 | Lange | D | 3 | 3,672 | 9,596 | 31,605 | 30.36% | 68,932 | 11.62% | 5.33% |
| AD19 | Black | R | 2 | 3,803 | 6,231 | 15,570 | 40.02% | 40,050 | 24.43% | 9.50% |
| AD20 | Orentlicher | D | 4 | 2,299 | 4,947 | 15,215 | 32.51% | 33,821 | 15.11% | 6.80% |
| AD36 | Hafen | R | 2 | 4,851 | 8,841 | 22,265 | 39.71% | 48,594 | 21.79% | 9.98% |
| AD38 | Titus | R | 2 | 6,780 | 8,736 | 22,436 | 38.94% | 43,057 | 30.22% | 15.75% |
| Avg | 36.31% | 20.63% | 9.47% | |||||||
| overall Avg | 28.33% | 16.70% | 7.61% |
There were several county commission races impacted as well, however, because it is more difficult to find the voter registration data by district, they are not included.
Two attempts to correct this voter suppression measure were made, one during the 2017 legislative session (by the same sponsor of the original bill), the other during the 2019 session. The first bill did not get a hearing. The second bill passed the assembly but did not get a senate committee vote. Legislative majority in the three sessions involved: 2015 Republican, 2017 and 2019 Democratic.
Given the legislature does not want to reverse the voter suppression it has implemented, it is up to the voters. This is why passage of the Better Voting Nevada initiative, that will implement Final Five Voting (FFV) where the right of all voters to cast ballots in the primary regardless of party is guaranteed and then vote for the top five candidates indicating their ranked preference for each allowing voters to vote their conscience, is critical.