Indy Elections: Top-down > Bottom-up
In today’s edition: State officials say the new top-down election system is ready for November. Plus, the campaigns are spending big on Spanish ads and former President Donald Trump’s campaign has taken out $5.8 million in ad reservations in Nevada.
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By the Numbers:
- 0 days until the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump
- 40 days until early voting
- 1 month and 27 days until Election Day.
Election officials unveil top-down voter registration and election management system
By Tabitha Mueller
After some delays, Nevada election officials finally announced the full implementation of the new top-down voter registration and election management system last week. Officials say it will speed up the release of election results and reduce voter registration errors.
The Nevada Independent stopped by a demonstration of the system in Washoe County on Wednesday, where Washoe County Registrar of Voters Cari Ann Burgess and Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar explained how the new program will allow officials to update voter rolls more quickly and accurately than in the past and immediately track if a voter moves from one county to another.
Previously, the state operated under a bottom-up approach with each county having its own processes for registering voters, running elections and reporting results — leading to delays, inefficiencies and other errors such as a coding problem that led to inaccurate online voter history records after the February presidential Democratic primary.
Click here to read more about the new system.
What we’re reading and writing
Indy Explains: What Question 6 would mean for abortion rights in Nevada by Eric Neugeboren
In short: State law protects abortion access, but this measure would enshrine those protections in the Nevada Constitution.
A pro-Trump restaurant owner may explain the former president’s appeal to Nevada Latinos by Isabella Aldrete
Why one Latino voter finds Trump’s economic messaging compelling.
Green Party will not appear on Nevada presidential ballot, state Supreme Court rules by Eric Neugeboren
Do I hear Democrats singing, “That’s one less thing to worry about”?
Political fight over Nevada voter ID question likely to heat up after new groups formed by Eric Neugeboren
Happy election season to all.
Nevada Latinos more likely to vote than swing state peers by Isabella Aldrete
More proof that #WeMatter.
Brown says he's "not for changing our existing law" on abortion ballot measure by Gabby Birenbaum
Pretty sure this marks Brown as a “no” on Question 6.
Poll: Nevada voters want expanded birth control access, oppose abortion criminalization by Tabitha Mueller
Nevada voters say criminalizing abortion is NOT a winning issue.
Indy Ad Watch
AD-NALYSIS OF THE WEEK: The Spanish ad landscape
More money has been spent on Spanish-language ads in the Nevada presidential race this cycle than the entirety of the 2020 election cycle, but Democrats have a significant advantage, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
As of Friday, Democrats have spent more than $7 million on Spanish-language ads in Nevada in the presidential contest, an increase of around $5 million from 2020. Republicans, meanwhile, have spent about $100,000 on Spanish-language ads so far this cycle, after allocating just $22,000 four years ago.
In the state’s U.S. Senate race, Democrats also have the spending lead, but Republicans are making more of an investment. Democratic groups and candidates have spent more than $10.5 million on Spanish-language ads (about $1 million more than in all of 2022), while Republicans have spent about $2.5 million, slightly less than their 2022 total.
Nevada’s Latino population is growing rapidly and in 2022 made up more than 20 percent of the state’s voting-age population, according to Census data.
The latest Spanish-language Democratic ad went live on Saturday as part of a $5.25 million investment in Nevada and Arizona by the Somos PAC and Future Forward PAC. A Planned Parenthood PAC is also rolling out a digital ad in Nevada that will run in English and Spanish.
TREND WATCH: Trump now on the airwaves through Election Day
Trump’s campaign late last week reserved $5.8 million in Nevada ad reservations through Election Day, though it still significantly trails reserved Democratic ad spending in the state’s presidential race.
The $5.8 million in reservations is less than half the amount of future reservations made by the Harris campaign — one of the largest reservation discrepancies in any battleground state.
Republicans had previously made no reservations in Nevada beyond Sept. 10 for the presidential contest. No GOP groups focused on the presidential race except for the Trump campaign have made ad reservations through Election Day, and other Democratic groups have made an additional $10 million in ad buys.
ONE OTHER TIDBIT
- Legislative Democrats have begun rolling out ads in three races — Assembly District 21, Assembly District 29 and Senate District 11 — with two focused on abortion and the third on education. All three seats are held by Democrats but are considered swing seats. A GOP official declined to provide information on their legislative ad plans.
— Eric Neugeboren
The Lightning Round
🗳️ Immigrant advocacy groups launch Get Out the Vote campaign for newly naturalized voters — A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups kicked off the New American Voters (NAV) Campaign in Las Vegas on Monday. About 41,000 Nevadans have become naturalized since the 2020 election, making newly naturalized American voters potentially key to winning Nevada’s toss-up races. Mexico, Philippines and Cuba are the top countries of origin for newly naturalized Nevadans, nearly 50 percent of whom are younger than 45, according to a new survey from the NAV Campaign.
🏆 Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus hosts gala and awards ceremony — The Latino Legislative Caucus hosted a gala and awards ceremony Saturday sponsored by various candidates, lobbying firms, community health organizations, energy companies and the pharmaceutical industry. The caucus, which is committed to representing and advancing issues important to the Latino community, recognized a Latino advocate and lobbyist of the year as well as inducted North Las Vegas city councilwoman and former Assemblywoman Olivia Diaz (D-North Las Vegas), who is running for re-election, into its hall of fame. The caucus’ PAC has reported donations from Nevada Donor Network, a Nevada-based organ donation group, Make the Road Action, a Latino advocacy organization and the Community Health Alliance, among other groups.
💊 Democrats submit prescription drug reform bill — Assemblywomen Venicia Considine (D-Las Vegas) and Natha Anderson (D-Sparks) submitted a bill draft request last week reintroducing a measure Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed last year aimed at lowering prescription drug costs by adopting drug prices negotiated by Medicare. The legislation builds off a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act that allows Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs and set caps for certain life-saving medications.
— Tabitha Mueller and Isabella Aldrete
Looking Ahead
- Tuesday, Sept. 10: Vice presidential hopeful Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) will deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Las Vegas.
- Tuesday, Sept. 10: Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will debate at 5 p.m. PST on ABC, with streaming options on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
- Saturday, Sept. 14: The Nevada Press Foundation is hosting its annual convention and awards ceremony in Reno.
— Tabitha Mueller
And to ease you into the week, a few “posts” to “X” that caught our eye:
- Oh, for it to be Friday.
- If the chief deputy secretary of state says it’s a cakewalk, then it must be so.
- Get a cat. It’ll bring you so much joy.
We’ll see you next week.
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