Published Thursday, May 30, 2019 | 11:18 a.m.
Updated Thursday, May 30, 2019 | 3:17 p.m.
CARSON CITY — Gov. Steve Sisolak issued his first veto to block a bill that would bind Nevada’s electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote.
“After thoughtful deliberation, I have decided to veto Assembly Bill 186,” the governor said in a statement. “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.”
A similar measure has been signed into law by multiple states, including Colorado, California and New Mexico.
The bill, sponsored by late Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, D-Las Vegas, passed the Assembly 23-17, with two excused, and the Senate 12-8, with one excused.
A two-thirds vote in each house is required to override a veto, so unless lawmakers who voted against the bill switch sides, the bill is dead.
