Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Nevada House Speaker Says It's Time to Give the State's Largest Voting Bloc Access to Primaries

Nevada House Speaker Says It's Time to Give the State's Largest Voting Bloc Access to Primaries

Las Vegas, Nevada sign

Photo by Grant Cai on Unsplash.

LAS VEGAS, NEV. - Nevada’s largest registered voting bloc – unaffiliated voters – could soon gain access to the state’s taxpayer-funded primaries, if a new bill from Democratic Nevada House Speaker Steve Yeager becomes law.

The bill, AB597, was introduced Monday with one week left in the session. It gives registered unaffiliated voters the option to submit an online request for a party's primary ballot no later than 14 days ahead of a primary or during in-person voting.


Unaffiliated voters would be limited to the primary ballot of a single party and the state’s voter registration list would be updated to indicate which party’s ballot a voter selected. Registered party members would still have to vote in their respective party’s primary.

“It’s just time to make sure that nonpartisans and non-affiliated voters can vote in partisan elections,” Yeager said. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

His bill would grant equal access to the public elections process to voters that outnumber Republican and Democratic registration. As of April, roughly 35% of the state’s 2.13 million registered voters did not register with a political party.

Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats each account for 29% of the registered voter population – and yet, only a marginal percentage of these voters decide the candidates that appear on the general election ballot each election cycle.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

It is unclear what chance AB597 has at passage. A bill introduced this late in the legislative session by the highest official in the Nevada House could suggest a deal has been made. However, while Yaegar’s party holds significant majorities in the legislature, GOP opposition could still hinder the bill's chances.

Nevada Republican Party Chair Michael McDonald simply said “NOPE” in response to the bill. The state’s governor, Joe Lombardo, is a Republican.

A nonpartisan election system was on the November ballot in Nevada under Question 3. The initiative combined a nonpartisan top five primary open to all candidates and voters, regardless of party, with ranked choice voting in the general election.

While a majority of voters approved it in 2022, a slim majority rejected it in 2024. As the initiative would make changes to the state’s constitution, it required approval in two consecutive elections to become law.

Yeager’s proposal would not give voters such a wide breadth of options in primary elections. However, it would give independent voters access to a critical stage of the public elections process that they are currently denied.

Nevada House Speaker Says It's Time to Give the State's Largest Voting Bloc Access to Primaries was originally published by Independent Voter News and is shared with permission.

Shawn Griffiths Is An Election Reform Expert And National Editor Of IVN.us.

Read More

America and the Magic Order of US

Lady Liberty

Provided by Sarah Beckerman

America and the Magic Order of US

Part I - The Ministry Denies It

Like many true elder millennials, I find comfort in escaping into fantasy worlds – Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars. But lately, these stories haven’t just been a break from the chaos of real life. They’ve become a lens for understanding it. They remind me what courage looks like when the odds are stacked, and what it means to stand up, not just to threats to justice, but to silence, complicity, and fear.

Lately, I’ve been thinking less about the final battles, the catharsis, the clarity, the triumphant arrival of friends. We’re not there yet. Not even close. What I keep returning to is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the part of the story where everything tightens. The danger is real. The protagonists are scattered. The institutions are eroding. And the air gets heavy with denial and dread.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eliminating HIV Prevention Is a Public Health Crisis

A vaccine bottle and syringe for an injection preventing HIV.

Getty Images, Kitsawet Saethao

Eliminating HIV Prevention Is a Public Health Crisis

The Trump administration is planning to eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of HIV Prevention. The collapse of HIV prevention will mean 143,000 additional people in the United States will acquire HIV in the next five years. We are on the cusp of a public health crisis.

The most recent attack on the reproductive health center in Palm Springs is a wake-up call to what could be to come if we continue to be bystanders in the erasure of reproductive and sexual health rights. A profound crack in an already fragile public health infrastructure continues to grow as government officials consider eliminating vital public health structures that monitor health trends, outbreaks, and our ability to prepare and respond to an ongoing HIV epidemic.

Keep ReadingShow less
Congress Bill Spotlight: Preventing Presidential Inaugurations on MLK Day, Like Trump’s

Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States.

Getty Images, Pool

Congress Bill Spotlight: Preventing Presidential Inaugurations on MLK Day, Like Trump’s

The Fulcrum introduces Congress Bill Spotlight, a weekly report by Jesse Rifkin, focusing on the noteworthy legislation of the thousands introduced in Congress. Rifkin has written about Congress for years, and now he's dissecting the most interesting bills you need to know about, but that often don't get the right news coverage.

President Donald Trump falsely claimed his January 6, 2021 speech preceding the Capitol Building riot “had more people” in attendance than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Just the Facts: Trump Administration Pauses International Student Visas
woman wearing blue denim jacket holding book

Just the Facts: Trump Administration Pauses International Student Visas

The Fulcrum strives to approach news stories with an open mind and skepticism, striving to present our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.

Has the Trump administration put a hold on issuing student visas for this coming fall?

The Trump administration has paused new student visa interviews as part of an effort to expand social media screening for applicants. The State Department has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates to stop scheduling new student and exchange visitor visa appointments until further guidance is issued. However, previously scheduled interviews will still proceed.

Keep ReadingShow less