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Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar in a statement said that over the next few months Nevada may consistently remain above 1.9 million active registered voters. Aguilar called it a “huge landmark for civic engagement in our state.”
Much of the growth is attributed to automatic voter registration (AVR), which happens primarily through the Department of Motor Vehicles. AVR has brought in new voters, but also made it easier for Nevadans to update their voter registration, which keeps them from being deemed inactive and eventually being removed. AVR is likely also impacting the rise of registered nonpartisans because voters are listed as nonpartisan if they fail to specify a political party.
“No matter what party a voter chooses to register as, or if they choose no party at all, each voter has an equal voice in Nevada’s democratic process,” said Aguilar in his statement Thursday. “This growth shows that the future of Nevada’s democracy is bright.”
July saw the active registered voter roll increase by 13,430 voters, an increase of 0.71%.
Nonpartisans saw the highest increase — 1.54%. Democrats and Republicans grew by 0.25% and 0.35%, respectively. Nevada’s two minor parties with ballot access — the Independent American Party and the Libertarian Party — both increased 0.8%. All other minor parties combined saw a decrease in total registration.
April Corbin Girnus is an award-winning journalist with a decade of media experience. A stickler about municipal boundary lines, April enjoys teaching people about unincorporated Clark County. She grew up in Sunrise Manor and currently resides in Paradise with her husband, three children and one mutt.