Speaking for Nevada - February 2004

Fasten Your Seatbelts

It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride!

by Dean Heller

Editor’s Note: Nevada Business Journal asked Secretary of State Dean Heller, who serves as the state’s chief elections officer, about the upcoming 2004 electoral process.

A presidential election year, control of the state’s Assembly and Senate, a possible tax vote backlash, several controversial initiative petitions, and new voting equipment and standards. All in all, it adds up to an exciting 2004 election year. With so much at stake in 2004, I anticipate the total number of registered voters in Nevada could top the 1 million mark. I expect at least 70 percent of those registered voters to cast their ballot on Election Day.

During the 2000 presidential election, Nevada would have been a key state in the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, except for that little snafu in Florida you may have heard something about. Nevada’s four (now five) Electoral College votes could have proven the difference in who won that election.

This year, Nevada could once again play a significant role in determining our next president. Political pundits believe Nevada will be a battleground state, due to the closeness of voter registration in the Democratic and Republican parties. I think you’ll see a major effort by both parties to secure the Silver State into their respective columns. Several voter-registration organizations, including the New Voters Project, New Democrat Network, MoveOn.org and others have already stated they plan on making Nevada a key state in their plan to get more people out to vote.

With the debate in the 2003 Legislature over the tax issue still fresh in minds of many voters, it will be interesting to see how people view not only the decision made by various legislators, but the process of reaching that final decision. Will the majority of voters support those who fought for fiscal constraint, or will the majority side with those legislators who voted for the increase as necessary to relieve the state’s financial woes?

Several petitions are being circulated that could garner enough signatures to place those questions on the ballot. If enough qualified signatures are turned in (51,234), Nevadans will be faced with voting to repeal major elements of the tax plan, to ban government employees from the Legislature, to determine the fate of an initiative that would force the Legislature to pass the education budget before any other budget items, and to vote up or down on changes to the state’s medical malpractice laws.

Of course, you also have races for a U.S. Senate seat, all three Congressional seats and several State Supreme Court positions.

Voters in many counties will be using new voting equipment this year. In December, I decertified all punch-card voting machines in Nevada as of September 1, 2004. I also announced in December my decision to use Help America Vote Act (HAVA) federal money to purchase Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines for every county in Nevada. In making the decision to purchase the latest voting technology available, I mandated a voter-verifiable receipt (VVR) printer be included on all newly purchased DRE machines for the 2004 election. In doing so, Nevada became the first state to demand a VVR before the 2006 election. And finally, I made it mandatory that all existing machines statewide must add the printer technology by 2006.

As the state’s chief elections officer, my duty is clear: to provide voters with the highest level of confidence that elections in this state are fair, unbiased and secure. It is a right of all citizens to feel secure that the voting choices they have made are recorded accurately. After careful deliberation with my staff, listening to experts in the technology field, and after hearing the concerns of many voters, it was clear to me that a paper trail is an intrinsic component of voter confidence.

There are several important dates to keep in mind: voter registration for the 2004 primary election must be completed by August 17, and by October 12 for the general election. The state’s primary election this year falls on September 7, the general election on November 2.

With so many important decisions at stake involving the future of our state and nation, I’m very confident the citizens of Nevada will heed the call and make this election season a memorable one.