By Annette Magnus

Upon finishing the 31st special legislative session, it is clear that we have a lot more work to do on issues affecting us at this time. Workers are getting sick, schools are underfunded, and we have a crucial election in front of us. 

President Trump has woefully mismanaged the pandemic and attempted to downplay its severity, and now here we are. While we wait for federal relief that may never come, cases are rising, deep budget cuts have been made, and now we have to protect the right to vote in a safe and secure way. 

On Election Day during the primary, the average Nevadan waited over four hours to cast an in-person vote. This was with in-person and mail-in options available. This is not what democracy looks like. The last voter in Clark County waited in line for eight hours and cast a ballot at 3:08 AM the next day. This is unacceptable and must be fixed before November’s election. 

At the time, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske made the right decision by expanding access to vote by mail for active voters with the option to vote in-person. Unfortunately, she has now made it clear that she will put politics over people and side with Trump and play partisan games to disenfranchise voters by calling for an all in-person November election. We should not be putting people’s health at risk to vote – all to appease a president who does not even believe in science. 

Cegavske’s refusal to make voting accessible and safe during this pandemic is a clear attempt at voter suppression. It is no secret that people of color are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. In addition, they are often the most overlooked voting groups and face the most challenges when it comes to voting. Black and Latino voters are less likely to get time off work to vote and experience more barriers to voting than their White counterparts. Indigenous people see the lowest voter turnout due to the many accessibility issues that tribal communities experience. In the June primary, without traditional mailing addresses or nearby post offices, many Native voters struggled to vote by mail, building upon the decades-long legacy of voter suppression in this country. 

We need a voting system that supports the needs of all people in Nevada. This means that during this health crisis our secretary of state should allow our registrars to automatically provide all active registered voters a ballot by mail, multiple in-person voting locations should be available, registrars should be allowed to start counting ballots as they are received, tribal governments should have the deadline extended to request polling locations, and additional ballot drop-off locations need to be required.

Battle Born Progress is committed to making voting fair and accessible to all and we will continue advocating for this if a second special session occurs. This is why we have worked with partner organizations and legislators such as Speaker Jason Frierson to expand voting access –not limit it.

It is not surprising to me that Secretary Cegavske has taken this position as the former chair of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), which is a right wing “think tank” that promotes extreme measures and voter suppression methods as its policy agenda. What surprises me is the about face as this pandemic only worsens from where we were in June and our death toll rises. 

Voting should not cost anyone their life. Voting should not take eight-plus hours. Voting should not be a significant burden to anyone. Forcing an all in-person election is the opposite of everything we should strive to achieve. It is dangerous and irresponsible. Every person should feel confident in our voting process and have it be as accessible as possible. We are 100 days from a critical election, and Cegavske is not inspiring that confidence in anyone right now.

Annette Magnus is the executive director of Battle Born Progress.