Ranked-Choice Voting, Open Primary Seminars To Be Held in Reno And Las Vegas

As Nevadans prepare to vote in the 2024 general election, voters will be asked to vote again on a ballot initiative, Question 3, that would fundamentally transform the way Nevadan’s vote in a primary and in an election. But will an open primary and ranked-choice voting increase voter participation and address political extremism and polarization in the Silver State?

In a statement to The Globe, “Ranked Choice Voting is a confusing, chaotic, disenfranchising system where the person with the most votes doesn’t always win, which is essentially un-American to its core. This system scam manufactures a majority vote and throws one person, one vote, counted one time totally out the window,” said Jordan Kittleson, Policy Director of the Center for Election Integrity, America First Policy Institute.

According to Mike Vallante, Director of the Center for Election Integrity for the America First Policy Institute, contends that the passage of Question 3 will make political extremism and polarization much worse for Nevadans.

“A jungle primary does nothing to bring people closer together to compromise,” Vallente told The Globe.

The American Policy Institute and their coalition partners are having two grassroots seminar events in Nevada on August 1 and 2 in Reno and Las Vegas, respectively.

“The primary objective of these grassroots seminar events is to educate the public on the background and mechanics of the system, including an in-depth discussion on the many examples of where it’s been implemented and proven unsuccessful. We will also be providing attendees with a comprehensive poll worker and poll watcher training presentation that will equip them with the readiness resources and tools needed to better ensure citizen engagement at polling locations,” Kittleson told The Globe.

For background, Question 3 passed in November 2022 by 53 percent of the vote, approving ranked-choice voting and open primaries for statewide elections. Currently, Alaska and Maine are the only two states that use ranked-choice voting in their elections. This constitutional change requires Nevada voters to approve the measure again in 2024 for it to take effect in 2026.

After it’s passage, Mike Draper of Nevada Voters First PAC claimed,“With the passage of Question 3, Nevadans have shown their desire to put Nevada voters first and address political extremism and polarization in our state.” Nevada Voters First raised $19.5 million for the 2022 election cycle and intends to continue their fundraising, advertising and messaging efforts to fundamentally change the way Nevadan’s vote.

Proponents believe that over 600,000 politically-unaffiliated Nevadans will be given a chance to vote in an open primary and contend that the current two party system is extreme, divisive, unfair, and needs to be challenged and evolve. Critics of Question 3 include Democrats and Republicans who fear that political parties may be eliminated from a race, contributes to ballot exhaustion, decreases voter participation, and impacts the majority of registered voters in Nevada.

“One of the worst things that ranked-choice voting creates is skepticism in elections due to the lack of transparency. People don’t understand how the system is being done. Voters don’t know for days or even weeks who actually won. We should be able to have an instantaneous result. If you think it’s bad now, once a state or city implements RCV , it extends the time to certify an election because you have to keep recounting and recounting and recounting…It’s not whoever gets the most votes, it’s whoever wins a ranked-choice balloting scheme. Ranked-choice voting is really a pollution of the election system.” Vallante warned.

You can read The Globe interview with Vallante here.  You can follow the out-of-state money behind the constitutional amendment here.