HomePoliticsNV DEMS IN CIVIL WAR OVER RANKED CHOICE VOTING BALLOT INITIATIVE Politics NV DEMS IN CIVIL WAR OVER RANKED CHOICE VOTING BALLOT INITIATIVE Sept 9, 2022 Rob Lauer Political Reporter Warning: Poli Sci geeks straight ahead full throttle. When the Republican candidates for Alaska’s only U.S. House seat, Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, split the vote, the Democrat Mary Peltola won the election. Alaska’s rank filing system defines the winner as the candidate with the most votes, not with the majority of the votes. In Nevada, each party has a primary in which the person with the most votes goes on to run in the general election against the party’s winner. In an election process being used for the first time in Alaska this year, party primaries have been replaced by ranked choice voting in general elections. The top four candidates in a primary race, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election. That means any voters from any party or no party can vote for any candidate ranking them 1 through 3. Nevada will get to choose this new election system this November with a ballot initiative also now known as Question 3. As described by Ballotpedia: 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 official, 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 official, and state legislative elections. What’s really interesting is that the groups fighting each other here usually work together. Both the Democrat Party and The Republican Party oppose it. While the Clark County Teachers Union and casinos like the Wynn and Stations casinos, are fighting for the ballot initiative. The campaign is being funded and led by the heir to the Gehl Foods empire, Katherine M. Gehl. Gehl was appointed by President Obama in 2010 to the board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. RINO Michael Roberson’s company, Micro Advance Targeting, has been paid over $2 million to date to run the campaign against both the Republican and Democrat parties. According to public records, Gehl has donated over $1 million to the Nevada rank choice system ballot initiative. Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald told 360 News the NV GOP party opposes the ballot system because “It dilutes the party’s influence in the system and gives campaign consultants more power in the our elections” Local Attorney, Paul Padda, who recently switched from Democrat to Non-Partisan, told 360 News “Rank voting promotes democracy by promoting the candidate with the best ideas that appeal to a larger percentage of the population than exists right now. If you believe in free market enterprise, you should like rank-choice voting because it promotes competition and gives each vote more say in the outcome of elections.” Chelsey Winninger, the former executive director of the Assembly Democratic caucus, is leading the Protect Your Vote Nevada PAC opposing it with $1.2 million. Gov. Steve Sisolak opposes the ballot initiative, saying “It could be confusing for voters and lead to errors that cause eligible votes to be thrown out.” In fact, the Democrats filed a lawsuit to block it last year. But they lost, and it’s going forward. Question 3 seeks to change the Nevada State Constitution, which means it will have to pass this November and then again in 2024 to become law. Nevada Lawyer, Bradley Schrager, who represents Protect Your Vote Nevada PAC told 360 News “Rank choice voting is costly and confusing for voters.” Schrager also told 360 News the ballot initiative will cost Nevada taxpayers over $3 million to implement, violating the Nevada State Constitution, but the Secretary of State’s office took too long to provide the evidence before the case went to court.
