Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Automatic voter registration initiative clears Assembly committee

CARSON CITY — An initiative petition to install an automatic voter registration system was approved Thursday by an Assembly committee on a party-line vote, with Democrats favoring and Republicans opposed.

The Assembly Committee on Legislation and Elections voted to send the petition to the full Assembly.

Supporters said the system would clear up confusion by some voters who change their addresses and fail to update their voter registrations.

Assemblyman Nelson Araujo, D-Las Vegas, said the petition would “clean up the system.”

Assemblyman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, called it a “big brother” initiative that will invade the privacy rights of citizens who don’t want to be involved in the political system. He also complained it would mean increased costs to county clerks in rural Nevada. In addition, citizens would be bombarded with political mailers and robocalls, he said.

The petition must be approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor within 40 days of the session. If it fails, it will be place on the 2018 election ballot for the voters to decide.

More than 125,000 people signed the initiative last year.

The initiative specifies that when a person registers a vehicle, their information is sent to the secretary of state and county clerks to register the individual to vote. A citizen can decline to participate when registering.

The county clerks would determine if the person is eligible to vote.