An election worker waits for people to vote in Nevada’s presidential preference primary at the Desert Breeze Community Center polling site Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.
Sunday, May 26, 2024 | 2 a.m.
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Primary elections offer voters an early and influential opportunity to shape the political landscape by deciding which candidates advance to the general election and, in some instances, deciding who wins the election outright. By participating in primary elections, especially those for state and local offices, voters help ensure that the most qualified candidates are chosen, shape the direction of their political parties and help weed out extremists who may not reflect the broader electorate’s views.
Despite these realities, primary elections are often characterized by lower voter turnout. According to the Nevada secretary of state’s office, in 2022, more than a million Nevadan voters surrendered their right to vote, as only 25% of active registered voters cast a ballot in the primary election. Since 2002, participation in the Nevada primary has never surpassed 30% of active registered voters, even in presidential election years.
We get it.
Finding reliable information on the dozens of candidates who could appear on your primary ballot takes time and energy that few of us have. But choosing not to vote isn’t a neutral decision. It amplifies the power of those who do participate.
When we don’t vote, our power to shape the direction of our nation doesn’t disappear. Instead, we distribute that power among those who do participate, giving a small but highly motivated (and often more extreme) segment of the electorate disproportionate influence over the outcome of the election.
The potential for extremism is particularly concerning in elections for judges, local council members and state legislators, which often have lower turnout than their up-ballot counterparts.
This means that candidates vying for the power to create policies on everything from transportation, education and housing, to small-business regulations and criminal justice reforms are almost all determined by a handful of voters who choose to show up … or don’t.
Moreover, there is no guarantee that voters will be able to correct their mistakes in November. Voter registration patterns that heavily favor one party or another can mean that the winners of the primary elections for numerous state and local legislative districts are all but guaranteed victory in the general election.We’ve identified at least two state Senate districts (4 and 19) and four Assembly districts (6, 7, 11 and 18) in which the winner of one party’s primary is all but guaranteed to win the general election.
Those who are registered as independents or “no party preference” can also have a profound impact on the outcome of an election, as they are often the unknown x-factor in nonpartisan races. Candidates who secure at least 50.01% of the total vote in a nonpartisan race can be declared the winner without going to a November runoff. That possibility is fueling the mayoral campaign of Victoria Seaman, who is looking to consolidate conservative voters in the primary while Shelley Berkley, Cedric Crear and Kara Jenkins fight for voters on the left.
It’s also giving hope to GOP extremists trying to “capture” seats in several nonpartisan races with left-leaning urban electorates and multiple Democratic candidates splitting the vote. These extremists aren’t interested in governing, they simply want to weaponize the government to serve a specific partisan agenda.
In short, there are all sorts of political actors, including election deniers, conspiracy theorists and violent insurrectionists, who are hoping that you’ll disengage and let them decide who the candidates should be.
But ask yourself: Are you really ready to surrender your right to vote? Are you ready to hand your ballot to a conspiratorial extremist and let that person vote on your behalf? If not, then you need to vote in the upcoming 2024 primary election.
By participating in the primary, you can help ensure that the candidates who advance aren’t extremists and conspiracy theorists, but those who can appeal to a wider range of constituents and govern effectively for all Nevadans.
You can also help shape the direction of politics and elections moving forward by casting a ballot for moderate candidates who demonstrate a willingness to collaborate, compromise and address the challenges facing our rapidly growing state in a pragmatic manner.
This issue of the Las Vegas Sun contains our suggested endorsements for select races. You’ll probably notice that not every race has an endorsed candidate. This is for good reason.
In some instances, all of the candidates are conspiratorial extremists and there truly are no good options. In other instances, candidates failed to provide detailed information about their platform and policy proposals, either in our endorsement survey or on their website or social media. If we didn’t feel as though we understood what a candidate stood for, we declined to endorse them.
Candidates we did endorse include those who demonstrated a nuanced understanding of the issues facing Nevadans, provided detailed and practical proposals to address those issues and demonstrated a willingness to collaborate, compromise and build the political will to pass their proposal and see it realized.
We hope this information helps guide your decisions and thank you for choosing to participate in democracy by voting in this year’s primary.
