The Nevada Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections will hear SB 499 on April 1 at 3:30 p.m.
AN ACT relating to elections; creating a modified blanket primary election system for partisan offices; authorizing any person who files a declaration or acceptance of candidacy and pays a filing fee to be a candidate for a partisan office at a primary election; providing, with limited exceptions, that the two candidates at a primary election for a partisan office who receive the highest number of votes must be declared nominees and have their names placed on the ballot for the general election; providing, with limited exceptions, that the two nominees on the ballot for the general election must not be affiliated with the same political party unless all of the candidates at the primary election are affiliated with the same political party; providing that the two nominees on the ballot for the general election may not be independent candidates unless all of the candidates at the primary election are independent candidates; eliminating provisions that prohibit a voter from casting a ballot in a primary election for partisan office for a candidate with a political affiliation different than that of the voter; making various conforming changes; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
To decipher the legal: only the top two could run in the general election, except that if the top two candidates in the primary are both in the same party or two independent,, then the 2nd place finisher does not advance to the general election, and whichever next candidate who is not in that same party or also independent does advance, however, if all the candidates are members of the same party or all independents, then the top two would advance.
The bill would provide that for all partisan office except President. The petition requirement would remain for presidential candidates.
Richard Winger of Ballot Access News has an interesting review:
"Blanket primaries are unconstitutional if any party subject to them complains. The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated involuntary blanket primaries in 2000 in California Democratic Party v Jones. The principle behind that decision is that parties can’t be forced to let members of other parties help choose their nominees."
I think the party nominee issues has been wrongly decided by the Supreme Court. The party's should have s a separate ballot for party officials and party issues, and a non-partisan ballot for state and congressional candidates.
But were is the Supreme Court on the fact that unaffiliated voters paid for the primary but can't take part in the process?
The sponsor of SB 499 is the entire Senate Committee, so it seems likely that the Committee will pass the bill. However, observers do not believe it would pass the Assembly even if it passes the Senate.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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1 comment:
There are 3 ideas that Nevada could pass to give more participation to independent voters: (1) an open primary, in which there is no registration by party and any voter can choose any party's primary ballot; (2) a Louisiana system in which there is no primary and everyone runs in November; (3) an Arizona-type law that tells parties they must let independent voters vote in their primaries. 5 states have laws like that and neither major party has ever tried to overturn them.
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