A Nevada State Senator introduced a Bill that would Open Nevada’s Primaries from a Partisan process to a Blanket-Style Ballot.
State Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, introduced Senate Bill 103 that would vastly change Primary Elections. Currently, Primaries are closed to Party Members only.
The Bill would alter that system, allowing anyone on the Ballot, including Minor Party Candidates, with the Top-Two Vote-getters moving on to the General Election. Anyone regardless of Political Party would be able to Vote in the Primaries as well.
“The concept is to get more people involved in the process earlier on,” Settelmeyer said. “I think everyone, in my opinion, should be voting in the primary and the general.”
Critics of the Nevada Electoral System have argued that the Primary process is too exclusive, especially when around 28% of Registered Voters are Nonpartisans or Minor Party supporters barred from Voting in any Primaries unless they change their Registration. The current system has also been criticized for the Primary determining the winner in some cases.
“Some people were upset with some of the changes last year where they weren’t able to participate in the general election because it was decided in the primary whereas this bill says everyone should vote in the primary,” he said.
Proponents of plans similar to Settelmeyer’s argue it opens the Electoral system up to people from a broader Political spectrum, for instance moderates who might not make it out of a Primary but could fare well in a General Election.
The system mirrors California’s, which used it for the first time during the 2011 Election. The end-result in some 2016 Races was two Candidates of the same Party running in the General Election. The Senate Race in California featured two Democrats and 26 Assembly Races in the State were between two Candidates of the same Party.
Doug Goodman, an Election Reform Advocate, said he's talked to several Lawmakers who were receptive to the idea. "It brings back this large segment of voters who’ve pulled themselves out of the process because of the partisanship that exists in closed primaries," he said. "There’s a big desire to get more people involved to break this partisanship that’s out there and that’s what this bill does."
Settelmeyer said he wasn’t sure whether there was support for the Bill. “I tend to be a little pessimistic on that respect,” he said.
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