Support Voter Integrity: Sign the Petition for Voter ID Requirements in Nevada
Mail in ballots/Voter ID Initiative
On August 3, 2020, Governor Sisolak signed AB4 into law, directing election officials to automatically send mail-in ballots to all active registered voters in the Nov. 3 general election.
AB4 modifies election procedures during declared states of emergency. Specifically, the legislation:
Directs election officials to automatically send mail-in ballots to all active registered voters in elections affected by a statewide state of emergency.
Sets the postmark deadline for mail-in ballots as the day of the election and the receipt deadline as seven days after the election.
Allows a voter to authorize any person to return a mail-in ballot on behalf of the voter.
Authorizes election officials to begin counting ballots 15 days before the election.
Both national and state-level Republicans criticized the legislation, both in terms of its content and its method of enactment. Former state attorney general Adam Paul Laxalt (R) posted on Twitter: “Gov. Sisolak and the NV Dems called a special session with no public present and inside 24 hours are ramming through mail-in balloting and ballot harvesting. They are massively altering our election 97 days out entirely without the SecState. They are working to steal our election[.]”
June 3, 2021 - Permanent mail-in voting is now the law of the land in Nevada following Democratic
Gov. Steve Sisolak’s signature. The governor signed Assembly Bill 321 into law Wednesday, making Nevada the sixth state to have such a system. The law requires a Nevada voter to opt-out** rather than opt-in to receiving a mail-in ballot. It passed the Nevada Assembly and state Senate along party lines last Wednesday. Democrats did not need a single Republican vote to pass the bill due to their constitutional majorities in both houses.
**Opt out gives Democrats the upper hand because most people don’t know they can opt out of mail in ballots and many will not make the effort to opt out.
It was recently discovered that democrats were registering voters at the homeless shelter in Reno using the homeless shelter address. Those mail in ballots will go to the shelter when they are sent out by the state. Who will fill them out? Who will send them in? How likely will it be that all those people registered will still be at the shelter?
Nevada moved to a temporary mail-in ballot program for the November 2020 election due to the coronavirus pandemic. Every voter, regardless of if they wanted a mail-in ballot, received one. Nearly half of all votes in the 2020 Election in Nevada were cast by mail, the Secretary of State’s Office reported.
We encourage voters to sign this petition to help secure more integrity in Nevada Elections
Initiative Petition to amend Article 2 (Right to vote) in the Nevada Constitution
Article 2 of the Nevada Constitution is herby amended by adding thereto new sections to be designated Section 1B and Section 1C, to read as follows:
Sec 1B. Photo Identification. Each voter in Nevaa shall present photo identification to verify their identity when voting in person at a polling place during early voting or on election day before being provided a ballot. To be considered valid, the photo identification must be current or expired for no more than four years. If the voter is 70 years old or more, the identification can be expired for any length of time, so long as it is other vise valid. Acceptable forms of identification include:
Nevada driver’s license.
Identification card issued by the State of Nevada, any other State, or the US Government.
Employee photo identification card issued by the US government, Nevada government, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other Nevada government entity.
US passport.
US military identification card.
Student photo identification card issued by a Nevada public college, university, or technical school.
Tribal photo identification.
Nevada concealed firearms permit.
Other form of government-issued identification that the Legislature may approve.
Sec 1C. Voter Verification. Each voter in Nevada who votes by mail-in-battot shall enter one of the following in the block provided next to the voter’s signature for election officials to use in verifying the voter’s identity:
The last four digits of their Nevada driver’s license number.
If the voter does not possess a Nevada driver’s license, the last four digits of their Social Security number.
If the voter has neither a Nevada driver’s license or a Social Security number, the number provided by the county clerk when the voter registered to vote.
Nevada Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment (2024)
In Nevada, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast in the most recent general election. Moreover, signature gathering must be distributed equally among each of the state's four congressional districts. The initial filing of an initiated constitutional amendment cannot be made before September 1 of the year preceding the election year. The signature petitions must be filed with county officials by the third Tuesday in June of an even-numbered year. The final submission of signatures to the secretary of state must be made at least 90 days before the next regular general election. Initiated constitutional amendments that qualify for the ballot must be approved at two consecutive general elections.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2024 ballot and the next even-yeared election ballot:
Signatures: 102,362 valid signatures are required.
Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures is June 26, 2024.
The Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom PAC, founded in 2023, and is affiliated with Planned Parenthood’s advocacy arm is spearheading the ballot initiative, which would need more than 100,000 signatures before June to be place on the November 2024 ballot.
The Coalition for Parents and Children PAC, (Donna Washington, Officer of PAC. Maurice
Washington’s wife) filed a lawsuit arguing that the ballots initiative is illegal because it is too broad for a single question, does not reflect the entire implications of the question and would cost taxpayer funds. Jason Guinasso, attorney for the PAC stated “It seems to us that this initiative is a solution searching for a problem, and that the voters have already settled the issue of abortion rights in Nevada.”
Abortion is already legal until 24 weeks into a pregnancy in Nevada. This amendment broadens the definition to ‘fundamental right to reproductive health,” which is described as “the right to make and effectuate decision about ll matters relating to pregnancy, including, without limitation, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, vasectomy, tubal ligation, abortion, abortion are, management a miscarriage and infertility care.”
The lawsuit challenges several aspects of the ballot question, including arguing that it violates the state constitution’s single-subject rule by including such a wide swath of medical procedures from vasectomies to infertility care. The petition contains overlapping provision that are not functionally related or germane to any singular purpose.
Stages of this ballot initiative
The measure was filed with the secretary of state by the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom on September 14, 2023.
On October 5, 2023, the Coalition for Parents and Children filed a lawsuit in opposition to the
initiative.[1]
On November 21, 2023, Carson City District Court Judge James Russell ruled in favor of the Coalition for Parents and Children finding that the initiative violated the state's single-subject rule. The campaign said they would appeal the ruling.[2]
On December 6, 2023, another initiative was filed with the secretary of state to circulate.
On January 23, 2024, Carson City District Judge James T. Russell approved the petition to circulate.[3]
In Nevada, abortion is already legal up until the 24th week of pregnancy. But fearing that such protections could be undone in future Republican administrations in the state, reproductive rights advocates sought to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would enshrine similar language — protecting abortion rights up until fetal viability — to make it close to impossible for lawmakers to ever terminate the protections.
“The proposed language says the state “may not penalize, prosecute, or take adverse action against any individual based on the outcome of a pregnancy of the individual, or against any licensed health care provider who acts consistent with the applicable scope and practice of providing reproductive health care services to an individual who has granted their voluntary consent.”
“Neither may the State penalize, prosecute, or take adverse action against any individual or entity for aiding or assisting another individual in the exercise of the rights established by this initiative,” it adds.
Specifically, the proposed amendment would establish that “all individuals” have “a fundamental right to abortion performed or administered by a qualified health care practitioner until fetal viability” without “interference from the state or its political subdivisions.”
The proposed measure defines “fetal viability” as “the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of the patient’s treating health care practitioner, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’ sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.” But having an abortion question on the ballot in Nevada — a crucial swing state — could help boost Democratic turnout in the races for president and U.S. Senate by tapping into the enthusiasm around the issue.
Abortions are legal in the state of Nevada with very few restrictions.
Abortions must be performed by a licensed physician
After 24 weeks of pregnancy, the abortion must be done in a licensed hospital
Doctor must obtain informed consent (this was greatly weakened in the last legislative session). [NRS442.253]
Nevada has a Parental Notification with Judicial Bypass law that was enjoined by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and has never been enforced. [NRS442.255]
Abortion reporting is required. [NRS442.260]
Nevada has protection for born alive abortion survivors that holds doctors civilly and criminally liable for wrongful death and medical malpractice if all reasonable steps have not been taken to preserve the life and health of the infant. [NRS442.270]
It is unlawful to require participation in an abortion. Employee must file a written statement indicating moral, ethical, or religious basis for refusal to participate in the abortion. [NRS632.475]
Medical facility not required to allow abortions. [NRS449.191]
Commercial use of aborted embryo or fetus prohibited [NRS451.015]
Nevada Administrative Codes 442.100–442.200 deal with abortion. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/ indexes/nac/. According to Decline to Sign the 2024 Amendment would:
Allow non-doctors to perform abortions.
Eliminate parental notification prior to a minor child’s abortion which would benefit traffickers
