LETTER: Nevada should let independents vote in party primaries
I read Rory Appleton’s June 7 article on the Nevada primaries. I have been an independent voter for decades prior to moving to Nevada in 2015, and I was locked out of the caucuses before and will now be locked out of the upcoming primaries. It was disappointing to read that, during the legislative session, state Sen. Ben Kieckhefer’s bill proposing a “blanket primary” died in committee without even getting a hearing.
I do not understand why legislators on both sides of the aisle seem to be comfortable with excluding one-third of registered voters in the state. Non-partisan voters currently outnumber Republicans and will likely do the same to Democrats in the near future. Why do we not get the opportunity to participate, except with the choices that are made for us in the general election?
This is a bit more frustrating in that the recent decision to move to “primaries” will be done at taxpayer expense.
I certainly hope that we are able to elect some politicians in the future who want this state to be inclusive of all registered voters, and perhaps we can show that to the rest of the country given some of the current discourse.