Voter ID, abortion access initiatives pass major hurdle to appear on Nevada ballot

Ballot initiatives related to voter ID and abortion access have submitted enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.

Groups backing the two initiatives gathered more than the required 102,000 signatures ahead of Wednesday’s deadline, which marked the last day for supporters to turn in signatures.

Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom and Repair the Vote PAC – groups backing the respective constitutional amendment initiatives – previously announced they had gathered enough signatures to appear on the ballot.

Their place on November’s ballot isn’t completely secured, however. Counties must first complete a “raw” vote count of the signatures for the secretary of state’s office, which then instructs counties to verify those signatures.

The county then verifies those signatures and sends them to the secretary of state’s office, which then deems whether the initiative is sufficient to appear on the ballot.

The Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom-backed question, which aims to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution, gathered 203,862 signatures, according to a preliminary count from the secretary of state’s office. Counties have until Thursday night to verify those signatures.

Counties have four days to submit the first “raw” vote count of signatures submitted by Repair the Vote PAC, which is backing a proposal that would require voters to show a form of acceptable identification to vote in person.

The proposal would also require those submitting mail ballots to provide the last four digits of their Social Security number or their Nevada’s driver’s license number to verify their identity.

Other petitions failed to pass the deadline. Two petitions to create an independent redistricting commission were disqualified in May when the state Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s decision that the proposal would create an unfunded mandate.

A petition that would have overturned a deal approved by the Nevada Legislature to partly fund the A’s planned Las Vegas ballpark was blocked by the state Supreme Court in May.

Initiative petitions that would go before the Legislature for approval have until Nov. 20 to gather over 102,000 signatures. If the Legislature does not approve the proposal, the question will be placed on the 2026 ballot.

Those petitions are seeking to allow teachers to strike, cap interest rates on payday loans and cap attorneys fees in certain cases.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on X.