| Jacob Solis | The Nevada Independent |
A new poll released Wednesday from The Nevada Independent and OH Predictive Insights (OHPI) shows Nevada voters support a proposed ballot measure implementing open primaries and ranked choice voting by a 15-point margin — though nearly a third of voters say they neither support nor oppose the idea.
The ranked-choice ballot question comes after a protracted campaign and legal battle to qualify for the November ballot. Though favored by rank-and-file voters (42 percent support to 27 percent opposed), especially as the number of registered nonpartisans unable to vote in Nevada’s closed primaries has surged over the last few years, top Democrats have openly opposed the measure as potentially “confusing” and “exclusionary.”
The measure would still need to pass another popular vote in 2024 even if approved by voters this fall.
Overall, 19 percent of respondents “strongly” supported ranked choice, with another 23 “somewhat” supporting it, for 42 percent support combined. Another 13 percent were somewhat opposed and 14 percent strongly opposed, for 27 percent opposition overall.
Along partisan lines, nearly half of Republicans (48 percent) opposed the ballot question, with just 30 percent in support and 23 percent responding to “neither.” By contrast, a slight majority of Democrats (51 percent) and a plurality of independents (44 percent) supported the measure, though 35 percent of both groups remained in the “neither support nor oppose” camp.
The ranked-choice measure has been spearheaded by Las Vegas attorney Todd Bice and his PAC, Nevada Voters First. It’s also been backed financially by the Institute for Political Innovation, a nonprofit founded by philanthropist Katherine Gehl. The state Supreme Court ruled in late June that the question could advance to the ballot after Democrats argued that the wording violated the state’s “single subject” provision.
As a constitutional initiative, the measure would still need to pass another popular vote in 2024 even if approved by voters this fall.