Dear Editor;
It has been brought to my attention the 2015 legislative session passed two bills that significantly affect the voters in Pershing County. These two bills change who is listed on the primary ballots and how our next commissioners will be elected.
The first bill (SB499) made changes for partisan races. If there are only two candidates running and both candidates are from the same party, both names will appear on the primary election ballot but only on that party’s ballot. The candidate with the most votes will run unopposed in the general election.
Here in Pershing County for the upcoming election there are two Republican candidates for both Commissioner seats. Both candidates are Republicans so only the Republicans will be able to vote for the open commissioner seats.
There are more Democrats, Independents and non-partisans registered in Pershing County than Republicans. This means for the upcoming election the minority will elect the two new commissioners.
The second bill (SB5) changes when candidates running for non-partisan positions are placed on the ballot. In previous elections, for example, with the Lovelock Meadows Water District all candidates ran automatically only in the general election and were not on the primary ballot.
The new change places all names on the primary election ballot and two names for every open seat will go to the general election ballot. For example this year there are nine candidates for three seats for the Lovelock Meadows Water District Board. Six people will go from the primary to the general election. This increases the cost to the county for elections.
Please feel free to contact our current legislators.
Our current legislators are:
Senator Don.Gustavson@sen.state.nv.us
P.O. Box 51601
Sparks, NV 89435-1601
775-722-1278
Assemblyman Ira.Hansen@asm.state.nv.us
68 Amigo Court
Sparks, NV 89441-6213
775-221-2502
Which local official is responsible for watching the laws that affect us locally?
Thank you for giving this information to the voters of Pershing County
Sincerely,
Virginia Rose
