John Locher / AP
A sign directs people where to vote at a polling place during early voting in Las Vegas, Oct. 30, 2020.
Monday, Feb. 7, 2022 | 2 a.m.
A political action committee is proposing a ballot question that would scale back voter accessibility in Nevada by requiring residents to show identification at the polls.
Another proposal by “Repair the Vote” would repeal Assembly Bill 321, which was passed by the Nevada Legislature in 2021 and requires that mail-in ballots be sent to all registered voters.
“I just want people to be comfortable and confident in the election process,” said David Gibbs, who is spearheading the effort and is the former president of the Nevada Republican Club and chairman of the Clark County Republican Central Committee.
The group must collect 140,777 signatures by June 29 for the initiative to make it on the ballot in the November general election. Those signatures must be divided evenly among Nevada’s four Congressional districts.
Thirty-five states have enacted laws requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls or a non-photo-bearing identification document, such as a utility bill, bank statement or paycheck, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Nevada does not require voters to present identification at the polls, but they must sign the poll book, which then compares the signature with what it has on file.
The ballot initiative would require voters to show a photo identification, whether it is a driver’s license, passport or student identification issued by a public college, university or technical school in Nevada. If someone is elderly and has an expired driver’s license, that ID would also be acceptable if all the information in the ID is accurate, Gibbs said.
“I took the things that are in there mostly from other states,” Gibbs said. “I’m not creating anything that’s new or out of the ordinary.” Gibbs also included a provision for the Legislature to approve in the future if there is a new type of identification.
The mail-in ballot process would revert back to voters only receiving a mail ballot by request, which was the procedure before the bill was passed.
“There was a lot of concern that there were ballots out there that shouldn’t have been out there,” Gibbs said. “They need to have faith and confidence that when a ballot is received in the mail, that it was requested by the voter and that it was mailed in before Election Day.”
Although Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election by more than 30,000 votes in Nevada, many Republicans have cried foul and touted unproven claims that the election was stolen and that mail-in ballots were submitted fraudulently.
His proposed ballot question “does not stop anybody from voting,” said Gibbs, who says he voted absentee in elections when he was in the Air Force between the ages of 18 and 46. “It does not prevent anybody who wants to vote from voting. … Anybody who wants to vote can request an absentee ballot. You can request a mail-in ballot.”
A national poll conducted by Monmouth University last year with more than 800 respondents found about 80% support for requiring voters to show photo identification to cast a ballot.
“There are a lot of folks across all demographics and parties who are in favor of photo ID,” Gibbs said.
Still, voting rights advocates say voter identification laws disenfranchise communities of color and people with lower incomes, and generally makes it harder for people to vote.
“When we’re talking about passing a voter ID law,” said Emily Persaud-Zamora, executive director of Silver State Voices, “it’s something that would discourage a segment of a community from actually participating in an election.”
Persaud-Zamora, also the leader of the Let Nevadans Vote Coalition, a group of local and national groups working to protect and expand civic access, said voter ID laws disproportionately affect communities of color and people who have lower incomes.
About 11% of U.S. citizens do not have government-issued identification, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, and minority voters disproportionately lack an ID. And even if one is offered for free, voters must spend money for other things, including paying for other required documentation like birth certificates or travel.
Time is also a factor that some Americans cannot afford. During the 2020 election, the DMV did not have the same operating hours as it had before the pandemic, and it was difficult for people to get an ID, Persaud-Zamora said.
People who are experiencing homelessness may not have an ID, and those recently released from jail might not have access to all the required documentation they need to get one, she added. But as long as they are a citizen and over the age of 18, they have the right to vote.
With regards to repealing the automatic vote-by-mail system introduced in AB321, which Persaud-Zamora’s group supported, the 2020 election showed many Americans liked voting by mail, Persaud-Zamora said.
Almost 50% of Nevadans submitted a ballot by mail in the 2020 election. Forty-six percent were Democrats and 26% were Republicans, according to data from the Nevada Secretary of State’s office.
“And we know we’ve seen in other states,” Persaud-Zamora said, “the more people who get educated on this form of voting, the more they actually use it.”
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said he is in favor of both the initiatives proposed by Gibbs and is unpersuaded by criticisms that they would make voting more difficult.
“When you look at all the everyday occurrences that nobody makes a peep about that require an ID,” he said, such as buying alcohol, marijuana and plane tickets, “when you have to show an ID for almost everything under the sun, I just think that rings hollow.”
Amodei said he is OK with voters wanting to vote by mail if there are safeguards in place, and if somebody requests a ballot through the mail.
“I don’t think it’s a lot to ask people to identify themselves as a voter,” Amodei said. “And then go ahead and vote your heart out.”
