Study the pros and cons. New equipment, software, increased training, technical assistance, educating the voter and so much more to implement this change if approved. Elect Scott Hoen as your next Carson City Recorder to implement the change, if approved.
The Nevada Top-Five Ranked Choice Voting Initiative is on the ballot in Nevada as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
A "yes" vote supports establishing open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections, which would apply to congressional, gubernatorial, state executive offices, and state legislative elections.
A "no" vote opposes establishing open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections, which would apply to congressional, gubernatorial, state executive offices, and state legislative elections.
Overview
How would this initiative change election policy in Nevada?
This initiative would establish open top-five primaries and ranked-choice voting for general elections.
In a top-five primary election, any registered voter can cast a ballot for any candidate, regardless of the party affiliation of the candidate or the voter. Rather than have the primary election be used to nominate a single candidate as the party’s candidate for the general election, the primary election would be used to narrow down all candidates to the top five candidates. The top five candidates who received the greatest amount of votes would proceed to the general election.
In a ranked-choice voting general election, the top five candidates who received the greatest amount of votes in that state’s primary would be listed on the general election ballot. The voter would then rank the candidates in the order of their preference. The voter can rank as many candidates as he or she wishes. When counting the ballots, the highest-ranked candidate on the ballot would be tabulated as a vote for that candidate. If a candidate is highest ranked on the majority of ballots, that candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate is highest ranked, the tabulation will proceed to another round. In the next round, the candidate with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated, and the second-highest ranked candidate on those ballots would be added to the vote totals. This process will continue until a candidate wins the majority of votes.
Do other states and cities use ranked-choice voting?
Maine and Alaska both use ranked-choice voting in certain elections. In the Alaska 2020 election, voters approved Ballot Measure 2, which replaced partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices, as well as establishing ranked-choice voting for general elections, including the presidential election. In the Maine 2016 election, voters approved Question 5, a ballot measure that established a statewide system of ranked-choice voting to elect U.S. senators, U.S. representatives, the governor, state senators, and state representatives, but not for the U.S. presidential election.
New York City voters also approved Ballot Question 1 in 2019 which established ranked-choice voting to be used for primary and special elections beginning in 2021 for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and city council members.
Who is behind the campaigns surrounding this ballot initiative?
The Nevada Voters First PAC is sponsoring the initiative. So far, the PAC raised $2.43 million in support of the measure, including $1.00 million from Katherine Gehl
The Protect Your Vote Nevada PAC is the campaign in opposition to this initiative. The PAC has raised $1.27 million so far. The top donors are the Nevada Alliance, the Nevada Conservation League, and Majority Forward.
What are the arguments for and against this initiative?
In support of this initiative, Sondra Cosgrove, professor of history at the College of Southern Nevada, said that voters should have more options. “We want to have more options. We don’t want just two people moving forward from the primary to the general election. We want five people, because oftentimes when you look at the people who move forward, it’s just the people with the most money,” she said.
In opposition to this initiative, Emily Persaud-Zamora, executive director of Silver State Voices, said that ranked-choice voting could be confusing and make the voting process more complicated. "Ranked choice voting makes casting a ballot more time consuming, more complicated and more confusing for voters ... It will inevitably lead to increased errors. Ranked choice vote ballots are significantly more likely to be thrown out and uncounted because of those voters’ mistakes, ultimately disenfranchising more voters because of an overly complex and burdensome process,” she said.
Protect Your Vote Nevada
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