Nevada
Signatures for three ballot initiatives petitioned by Boulder City residents regarding the city’s debt, ownership of an 18-hole golf course and term limits for committee members were approved Monday by the Secretary of State’s Office.
The questions being proposed are whether the city should take a vote from residents when going into debt of at least $1 million, if the city should own only one 18-hole golf course and an initiative that would limit a city committee member’s term to 12 years.
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Perhaps citizen initiative rights will become part of the Nevada Senate race:
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle believes the Nevada Legislature has strongly and repeatedly tried to make it unreasonably difficult for citizens to pursue ballot initiatives. Angle filed a lawsuit in October that seeks to eliminate some of the myriad restrictions, and today, a federal judge could rule whether recent changes to the law are constitutional.
Signatures for the last three ballot initiatives being petitioned by Boulder City residents for the upcoming general election were submitted to the city clerk Wednesday. The questions being proposed are whether the city should take a vote from residents when going into debt of $1 million or more, if the city should only own one 18-hole golf course, and an initiative that would limit a city committee member’s term to 12 years.
Come this November, voters in Nevada will only have politicians to vote for on the ballot, and no citizen initiatives:
For the first time since 1992, Nevada voters will find no question on their November ballot that qualified as the result of a citizen’s initiative petition, the secretary of state’s office has reported.
For the first time since 1992, Nevada voters will find no question on their November ballot that qualified as the result of a citizen’s initiative petition, the secretary of state’s office has reported. The deadline for submitting the required number of signatures to county clerks passed Tuesday with no petitions presented in any county. Three petitions to amend the state Constitution were in circulation.
Nevada voters won’t get the chance to decide whether the state’s booming mining industry should pay higher taxes. On Monday, the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, or PLAN, said it wouldn’t meet today’s deadline to provide the 97,002 signatures from registered voters needed to place the mining tax initiative on the November ballot.
Jumping on a hot election-year issue, U.S. Senate candidate Chad Christensen on Thursday launched a ballot initiative that would impose an Arizona-like law in Nevada, giving authorities the right to question and arrest possible illegal immigrants in certain cases. Christensen, a Las Vegas assemblyman, said he is working on a draft of his Nevada Immigration Reform Referendum and would start gathering signatures immediately, although he is not sure whether he’ll be able to meet a deadline to get the initiative on the November ballot.
Boulder City residents petitioning for more ballot initiatives in the upcoming general election submitted a charter amendment question Thursday regarding the appointment of the city attorney. The amendment initiative asks whether the city attorney should be elected instead of appointed by the City Council. The ballot committee submitted the question along with 869 signatures and 195 notarized pages. To be placed on the ballot, an initiative must be accompanied by a petition signed by at least 640 registered voters, according to the city clerk’s office.
The committee working to get the issue of a second landfill on the ballot in November turned in their signatures to the Humboldt County Clerk’s Office on Wednesday. The committee needed 852 signatures but collected 1294 — just to be on the safe side. If ultimately included on the ballot, the voters would have an opportunity to decide whether or not they want to limit the amount of garbage that could be imported to a second landfill within the county.
The Nevada Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on a ballot initiative that would outlaw abortions in the state. The group “Personhood Nevada” wants to redefine the law to provide civil rights to the unborn fetus, making it illegal to terminate a pregnancy. The case was appealed after a lower court ruled the petition was too broad and violated state law. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are trying to stop the initiative, claiming it fails to inform voters that it would affect both abortions and birth control.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian says he’s forming a committee to spearhead a ballot initiative for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing what he says would be health care freedom. He says he plans to launch the effort Wednesday in Las Vegas, a day after President Barack Obama signed the nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul bill into law, which will for the first time cement insurance coverage as the right of every U.S. citizen.
The mining industry lost an early legal bid Friday to keep Nevadans from voting on a ballot measure in the fall that would dramatically increase mining taxes in the richest gold mining state in the nation. District Court Judge James Wilson Jr. refused to block Nevadans for Fair Mining Taxes from pursuing an initiative that would amend the state constitution to make mines pay taxes before instead of after deducting most expenses.
Lawyers for the Nevada Mining Association are going before a judge in Carson City to try to block a ballot petition drive aimed at raising taxes on the mining industry. District Judge James Wilson scheduled a 2 p.m. hearing Friday on the bid to keep the initiative off the ballot this fall based on claims it’s unconstitutional.
A national organization unhappy with organized labor intends to circulate two petitions in Nevada this year that would require union elections to be by secret ballot and require employees to agree before political contributions are taken from their paychecks. A third petition to be circulated by SOS (Save Our Secret) Ballot would add to the state constitution the requirement that elections for public office and issues be conducted by secret ballot, as they are done now by widespread practice.