Question Number 3 - Proposes to amend the Nevada Constitution to allow for open primaries and ranked-choice voting

Summary

This initiative, if enacted, changes Articles 5 and 15 of Nevada's Constitution for U.S. Congressional, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, Attorney General, and State Legislator elections, eliminating partisan primaries and establishing an open top-five primary election and a ranked-choice voting general election. For these offices, all candidates and voters participate in a single primary election regardless of party affiliation or non-affiliation. The top five finishers advance to the general election, and the general election winner is determined by ranked-choice voting: • General election voters will rank the candidates in order of preference from first to last, if they wish to rank more than just their first preference. • As currently provided for during certain primary races, a general election candidate receiving first-choice votes of more than 50% is declared winner. • If no candidate is the first choice of more than 50% of the voters in the general election, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Each voter who had ranked the now eliminated candidate as their first choice, has their single vote transferred to their next highest choice candidate. • This tabulation process repeats until the one candidate with more than 50% support is determined as the winner. If passed, the Legislature would need to adopt implementing legislation by July 1, 2025. These changes would go into effect for the 2026 election cycle, starting with the primary election in June 2026.

A "yes" vote would amend Articles 5 & 15 of the Nevada Constitution to allow all Nevada voters the right to participate in open primary elections to choose candidates for the general election in which all voters may then rank the remaining candidates by preference for the offices of U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, Attorney General, and State Legislators

A "no" vote would retain the provisions of Articles 5 & 15 of the Nevada Constitution in their current form.

Arguments

"The current partisan election process is not working for Nevada. Current law excludes over one third of all Nevada voters from the taxpayer-funded partisan primary elections. These closed partisan primaries are controlled by political party insiders and no citizen should be compelled to join a political party so as to vote. Despite being funded on the backs of all taxpayers, Nevada's partisan primaries are only open to Nevadans who register as Republican or Democrat. This current system leaves out many voters and entitles a very small, partisan minority to determine the general election candidates." - Nevada Statewide Ballot Questions Summary, in support of Question Number 3 (Learn more)

"In addition to giving Nevadans more voice, Question 3 will also give voters more choice by establishing a Ranked-Choice general election system. Ranked-Choice is a simple change to our general elections that allows voters the opportunity to rank up to five candidates who best represent their positions, rather than having to choose between the "lesser of two evils". Nevadans will list the candidates in order of preference; however, ranking is not required, and voters can continue to simply vote for their top choice if they so choose. The candidate who receives the broadest support from all voters will be the winner. This simple change encourages candidates to focus on issues that matter to the majority rather than the partisan bases of the parties." - Nevada Statewide Ballot Questions Summary, in support of Question Number 3 (Learn more)

"Question 3's jungle primary and confusing multi-stage general election proposal does nothing to address partisanship in Nevada's political process, and will likely make things worse. Instead, this initiative will fundamentally damage the traditional conduct of our elections, and it could function to shut out parties entirely from running general election candidates in some races. In many districts, the only choices in November might be between candidates of the same party, or among fewer parties' candidates than currently." - Nevada Statewide Ballot Questions Summary, in opposition to Question Number 3 (Learn more)

"In addition, if Question 3 passes, independent candidates not affiliated with the political parties would be prevented from launching a campaign in the general election, and would instead have to compete directly in expensive primaries against established party candidates. Nevadans need more quality voices and ideas in politics, but this initiative actually narrows voters' options." - Nevada Statewide Ballot Questions Summary, in opposition to Question Number 3 (Learn more)

Measure Details