With the exception of Democratic State Senator Dina Neal (SD-4), Senate Democrats passed AJR6, the National Popular Vote constitutional amendment, which would bypass the electoral college system and ensure the candidate who wins the majority of votes nationwide wins Nevada’s votes for the presidency. The amendment will be will be on the 2026 ballot if passed again during the 2025 legislative session.

Senate Republicans unanimously opposed the amendment and contend that the national popular vote system in place, the will of Nevadans would not be accurately reflected and the pride of being a swing state would otherwise be eliminated and charge that the “Democrats are seeking to circumvent Governor Lombardo by sending the question directly to voters” and ” have no issue uprooting the entire electoral system by proposing and passing this resolution.”

In 2019, similar language to AJR6 was passed by Democrats in AB186 and received a veto from former Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak.

Following his decision to veto this legislation, Governor Sisolak stated: “After thoughtful deliberation, I have decided to veto Assembly Bill 186. Once effective, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests and force Nevada’s electors to side with whoever wins the nationwide popular vote, rather than the candidate Nevadans choose. In cases like this, where Nevada’s interests could diverge from the interests of large states, I will always stand up for Nevada.”

The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted by 16 jurisdictions possessing 195 electoral votes, including 4 small states (DE, HI, RI, VT), 8 medium-sized states (CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA), 3 big states (CA, IL, NY), and the District of Columbia. The bill will take effect when enacted by states with 75 more electoral votes.

The Board of Advisors of the nation-wide initiative include former Democratic Senator Al Franken, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former RNC Chair Michael Steele, and former Democratic Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

“The Nevada Senate Republicans are strongly opposed to the implementation of the national popular vote in our constitution. Without the Electoral College, candidates could simply focus on heavily populated urban areas across the nation and ignore the concerns of less populated states like Nevada. The national popular vote would fundamentally change the way presidential elections are conducted and potentially set aside the will of Nevada voters,” commented Leader Heidi Seevers Gansert.