Governor Lombardo Chairs Bipartisan Coalition To Pass Voter ID Initiative

Today, Nevada Voter ID Coalition announced its formation in support of a bipartisan effort to pass a Voter ID law for the State of Nevada.

According to the announcement, “Governor Joe Lombardo will serve as the organization’s honorary chair and it will be co-chaired by Sparks City Attorney Wes Duncan, real estate agent Tina Brown, and businessman Tim Cashman. It will be devoted to supporting the passage of a ballot initiative on the ballot this November that would require valid ID to vote in Nevada. If successful, the law will be voted on again in 2026 for final passage as a constitutional amendment.”

After years of legal challenges led by Marc Elias and progressive activists, Repair The Vote PAC received a unanimous ruling in May from the Nevada Supreme Court to proceed and gathered enough verified signatures for the Voter ID initiative (Question 7) to appear on the November 2024 ballot.

During his State of the State address, Governor Joe Lombardo vowed to implement voter ID either through legislation or “at the ballot box.” During the Democratic response to Governor Lombardo’s address, Speaker of the Assembly Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) proclaimed that any legislation related to election integrity would be “dead on arrival.” When The Globe asked Democratic leadership about Lombardo’s Voter ID proposal, Attorney General Aaron Ford claimed that voter ID was “unconstitutional.”

Subsequently, the Democratic majority in the legislature refused to hear a bill brought by Governor Lombardo in 2023 that would have required ID to vote despite the fact that 36 other states have Voter ID laws.

“Last year, I introduced legislation that would have added a very popular and commonsense requirement that voters present photo identification at the polls,” Gov. Joe Lombardo stated when the ballot measure qualified. “Legislative leadership immediately shut down the idea and refused to even give the bill so much as a hearing — despite polls that show more than 80% of Nevada voters support the idea. I made a promise to voters that if the legislature would not support the will of the people, I would take the vote directly to them, and I am proud to see that become a reality. Qualifying ballot measures has become increasingly difficult in Nevada, so I am incredibly proud of the hundreds of volunteers – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – that helped make this a reality, so the voters of this state can finally vote on a policy that so many support.”

“This historic opportunity to pass a robust Voter ID law in Nevada would not be possible without the tireless efforts of the volunteers at Repair the Vote PAC,” said co-chair Tina Brown. “I could not be more excited to work with Governor Lombardo, Wes, Tim, and the fabulous volunteers working with the Repair the Vote committee. This bipartisan effort will ensure that Nevadans can have full confidence in our elections and strengthen the integrity of our system of government.”