Election days typically occur once or twice a year (counting primaries), but the work preparing voter rolls is a year-round process. This is especially true in Nevada, with its dynamic population that has people moving into, out of and within the state at a high rate. What that means is election officials have to work hard to keep voting rolls – the list of people entitled to vote in upcoming elections – clean and up to date. In the past half decade Nevada has introduced a number of changes to the way it handles elections, including universal mail-in balloting and same-day voter registration ..read more

A top-ranking state official wants to nullify a voter ID law passed by residents of a Southern California city. California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Huntington Beach this week to prevent the city from requiring voters to provide identification before casting a ballot in municipal elections. Huntington Beach voters passed the measure last month during the state’s primary elections. That came after the Huntington Beach City Council passed the initiative last year. The provision – which doesn’t go into effect until 2026 – would also enable the city to “provide more in-person voting location ..read more

Among the most egregious changes to Nevada’s voting laws in recent years was the legalization of ballot harvesting. Under the cover of the 2020 Covid lockdown, dramatic changes were made to how Nevada operates elections – supposedly on a temporary basis but made permanent the following year. These included allowing a third party to collect and submit completed mail-in or absentee ballots – known as ballot harvesting – a felony previously. Nevada has one of the most freewheeling ballot harvesting laws in the country, allowing unlimited volumes of collection by any “person authorized by the vote ..read more

Nevada Policy’s bid to force state lawmakers to abide by our state constitution has been ongoing for more than a decade. Earlier this year, the Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments in our case regarding the state’s separation of powers clause. For decades, state assemblymembers and senators have flouted Article 3, Section 1 of the Nevada Constitution, which states that Nevada’s government is divided into the executive, legislative and judicial branches and “no persons charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any functions, appertaining t ..read more

The media, to the surprise of no one who tracks the news industry, has a significant perception problem among the U.S. public. This includes both the mainstream media – outlets such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and major network news program – and alternative media – including the Washington Times, NewsMax and Real Clear Politics. More than 1,400 individuals were polled earlier this year on their trust for both traditional and alternative media and both fared dismally. Only one-third of those polled trust the traditional media, while just one-quarter of those polled trust alternati ..read more

Why do Nevada elections take so long? It’s a question that pops up every two years, which happens to coincide with key elections in the state. The New York Times, Associated Press and France’s Le Monde were among media outlets asking that question in 2022; and USA Today and The Guardian, a United Kingdom newspaper, raised the issue in 2020. The short answer as to why it takes so long to count ballots in Nevada is because we allow it: Mail-in ballots, sent to every registered voter, slow the process as the state allows four days after the election for completed ballots to reach authorities; Th ..read more

America’s progressive movement began with the Pendleton Act of 1883, which created federal civil service. It continues to the present, addressing many areas, including antitrust, women’s rights, eugenics, income/wealth equality, environmental protection, labor laws and others. Notable progressives have included Woodrow Wilson, his mentor Richard Ely, Margaret Sanger, William Jennings Bryan, Herbert Croly (New Republic founder), both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Barack Obama and (lately) Joe Biden. Some progressive causes have stood the test of time and been found sound and compatible with ..read more

Monopolies are rare in a free market. They can occur in new technologies or when one business drives others out by being more efficient or providing a better product. But even in these unusual examples, competitors often enter the market to try and take advantage of opportunities or by improving their offerings. The end result is almost always a better deal for consumers. However, when the government gets involved – whether by protecting “necessary” industries from competition, subsidizing costs or passing regulations to prohibit “anticompetitive” conduct – consumers almost always end up getti ..read more

Nevada officials recently unveiled the Nevada Open Finance Portal, also known as the state checkbook. This site, which offers a searchable database of state expenditures, came together through the work of State Controller Andy Matthews and his staff, along with the assistance of Nevada Policy’s Director of Research Geoffrey Lawrence. Both Matthews and Lawrence were working together at Nevada Policy more than a decade ago when they recognized the need for this tool. We sat down with Lawrence to get his thoughts on the state checkbook, the work that went into making it happen and what it means f ..read more

As Nevadans prepare to give thumbs up or down to ranked-choice voting this fall, the system is running up against significant opposition in neighboring Utah. The Utah House of Representatives voted late last week to cut short a pilot program giving cities in the state the option to use ranked-choice voting, or RCV, in municipal elections. Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, sponsored House Bill 290, which would end the RCV program before the 2025 elections, citing complaints she’s received from residents of different Utah cities that the process is too confusing. Other issues in Utah include c ..read more