Voter ID initiative gets approval to appear on the November ballot in Nevada

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls has qualified for the November ballot in Nevada, the state’s top election official announced Friday.

The measure also calls for an extra layer of identification verification for mail ballots, such as the last four digits of a driver’s license or Social Security number.

The approval adds to several ballot initiatives that voters will choose alongside tight races up and down Nevada’s November ballot. This includes measures that would further enshrine Nevada’s abortion rights, institute new election processes that include ranked choice voting and remove language from the state constitution that includes slavery and involuntary servitude as a form of criminal punishment.

If passed in November, the voter ID measure would also have to be approved by voters in 2026 to amend the state constitution.

County election officials verified about 132,000 total signatures that organizers submitted, according to the secretary of state’s office. They surpassed the nearly 26,000 valid signatures needed from each of the state’s four petition districts.

Supporters of voter ID requirements said they add necessary security and ensure that only qualified voters can cast ballots. Opponents argued that the requirements make it more difficult for people to vote, especially the elderly, those with disabilities and those without driver’s licenses. The NAACP and other civil rights groups have argued that it disproportionately harms Black and Latino voters.

During the 2023 legislative session, voter ID became a partisan issue between Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Democratic-controlled legislature. Lombardo outlined it as one of his main priorities, but Democrats who control the state legislature refused to give the proposal a hearing.

In a statement when organizers submitted signatures for review, Lombardo criticized Democratic legislative leadership for shooting down voter ID.

“I made a promise to voters that if the legislature would not support the will of the people, I would take that vote directly to them,” Lombardo said in a statement last month, which his office referred to when asked for comment on Friday. “And I am proud to see that become a reality today.”

Election procedures overall have become particularly contentious in Nevada, which adopted expansive election procedures during the pandemic, including a universal mail ballot system, and has been at the center of former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen 2020 election and its ensuing fallout. County commissioners that oversee Reno and the surrounding area refused to certify the election results of two local recounts earlier this month, a vote that they overturned on Tuesday.

David Gibbs, the president of Repair the Vote political action committee, which organized the ballot initiative effort, said he hopes the initiative drives turnout among voters who don’t regularly visit the ballot box.

“I know that we’ve had folks that have signed this that have not been regular voters,” Gibbs said. “I’m looking for those folks to get out and vote.”