Nevada Question 1, Equality of Rights Amendment (2022)
| Nevada Question 1, Equality of Rights Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Constitutional rights | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
Nevada Question 1, the Equality of Rights Amendment, was on the ballot in Nevada as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.[1] The measure was approved.
A "yes" vote supported adding language to the Nevada Constitution that prohibits the denial or abridgment of rights on account of an individual's race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin. |
A "no" vote opposed this amendment to the Nevada Constitution that prohibits the denial or abridgment of rights on account of an individual's race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin. |
Election results
|
Nevada Question 1 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
580,022 | 58.63% | ||
| No | 409,228 | 41.37% | ||
Overview
How did Question 1 change the constitution?
- See also: Text of measure
The amendment added a new section to the end of Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution that states: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin."[1]
Do other state constitutions have similar provisions?
As of 2022, 25 state constitutions had provisions that guaranteed equal rights either in their original text or added later as an amendment. The last state to adopt an equal rights provision was Delaware in January 2021.[2][3]
As of 2022, there was also an effort to adopt a federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the U.S. Constitution. For the ERA to become a part of the U.S. Constitution, the amendment needed to pass both chambers of Congress by a two-thirds vote and then receive ratification by three-fourths of the states. The ERA passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 12, 1971, and it passed the U.S. Senate on March 22, 1972. Congress set a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979, for state legislatures to consider the amendment. In 1978, Congress passed a joint resolution extending the deadline to June 30, 1982. By 1982, 35 of the necessary 38 states had ratified the amendment. On March 21, 2017, Nevada was the first state to ratify the ERA after the deadline.[4]
What did supporters and opponents say about Question 1?
- See also: Support and Opposition
State Senator Patricia Spearman (D), a sponsor of the amendment, said, "We've waited long enough for equal rights to be incorporated into our state constitution … We must be brave in protecting the weak, the downtrodden, the oppressed. We must be brave in lifting our fellow Nevadans to a place of justice and equality."[5]
Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit that litigates cases related to religion and family issues, said, "S.J.R. 8 would open the door to government-mandated discrimination, inequality, and coercion. As discussed below, it would hurt women, religious organizations and schools, medical professionals, and could even mandate that taxpayers pay for others to receive abortions."[6]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The official ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ |
Question 1: Senate Joint Resolution No. of the 80th Session: Shall the Nevada Constitution be amended by adding a specific guarantee that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its cities, counties, or other political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry, or national origin? [7] |
” |
Ballot summary
The official ballot summary was as follows:[1]
| “ |
This ballot measure would add new language to the Nevada Constitution specifically guaranteeing that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the State or any of its cities, counties, or other political subdivisions based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry, or national origin. A “Yes” vote would amend the Nevada Constitution to add new language specifically guaranteeing that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the State or any of its cities, counties, or other political subdivisions based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry, or national origin. A “No” vote would not amend the Nevada Constitution to add new language specifically guaranteeing that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the State or any of its cities, counties, or other political subdivisions based on race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin. [7] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article 1, Nevada Constitution
The measure added a new section to Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution. The following underlined text was added:[1]
|
Sec. 24. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin.[7] |
Full text
The full text is available here.
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 29, and the FRE is -12. The word count for the ballot title is 56.
The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 30, and the FRE is -16. The word count for the ballot summary is 174.
Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro (D)
- State Sen. Heidi Gansert (R)
- State Sen. Scott Hammond (R)
- State Sen. Dina Neal (D)
- State Sen. David R. Parks (D)
- State Sen. Julia Ratti (D)
- State Sen. Patricia Spearman (D)
- State Sen. Joyce Woodhouse (D)
Organizations
- Battle Born Progress
- Human Rights Campaign PAC
- Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada
- Sierra Club Tioyabe Chapter
Arguments
Official arguments
The following was the argument in support of Question 1 found in the Statewide Ballot Questions 2022 Pamphlet Guide:[8]
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Opposition
If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to [email protected].
Opponents
Organizations
Arguments
Official arguments
The following was the argument opposing Question 1 found in the Statewide Ballot Questions 2022 Pamphlet Guide:[9]
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Campaign finance
If you are aware of a committee that was registered to support or oppose this amendment, please email [email protected].
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| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Media editorials
- See also: 2022 ballot measure media endorsements
Support
The following media editorial boards published an editorial supporting the ballot measure:
Opposition
The following media editorial boards published an editorial opposing the ballot measure:
Polls
- See also: Nevada ballot measure polls
- Are you aware of a poll on this ballot measure that should be included below? You can share ballot measure polls, along with source links, with us at [email protected].
| Nevada Equal Rights Amendment (2022) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NV Indy Fest | 7/20/22-7/29/22 | 741 LV | ± 3.6% | 62% | 23% | 15% |
| Question: "Amending the Nevada Constitution to add the following section: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry or national origin."" | ||||||
| Suffolk University | 8/14/22-8/17/22 | 500 LV | ± 4.4% | 69.4% | 20% | 9% |
| Question: "A ballot initiative would add the Equal Rights Amendment to Nevada’s State Constitution. It would change the Nevada Constitution to “guarantee that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its cities, counties, or other political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry, or national origin.” At this point, do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose this ballot initiative?" | ||||||
| OH Predictive Insights for The Nevada Independent | 7/8/22-7/19/22 | 924 RV | ± 3.22% | 72% | 13% | 15% |
| Question: "A question on the ballot asks if the Nevada Constitution should be amended to add this section: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this State or any of its political subdivisions on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, ancestry, or national origin." Do you support this or oppose this?" | ||||||
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | ||||||
Background
Equality of rights in the Nevada Constitution
Article I of the Nevada Constitution is known as the Declaration of Rights. As of 2021, the declaration's first section stated that: "All men are by Nature free and equal and have certain inalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; Acquiring, Possessing and Protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness."
Equal rights provisions in state constitutions
As of September 2021, 25 state constitutions had provisions that guaranteed equal rights either in their original text or added later as an amendment. The formulation of the provisions varies state by state. The last state to adopt an equal rights provision was Delaware in January 2021. The map below highlights which states have equal rights provisions in their state constitutions.[2][3]
Federal Equal Rights Amendment
The first federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was introduced in Congress in 1923. The text of the amendment stated:[10]
| “ |
Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Sec. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Sec. 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.[7] |
” |
For the ERA to become a part of the U.S. Constitution, the amendment needed to pass both chambers of Congress by a two-thirds vote and then receive ratification by three-fourths of the states. The ERA passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 12, 1971, and it passed the U.S. Senate on March 22, 1972. Congress set a ratification deadline of March 22, 1979, for state legislatures to consider the amendment. In 1978, Congress passed a joint resolution extending the deadline to June 30, 1982. By 1982, 35 of the necessary 38 states had ratified the amendment.[4]
On March 21, 2017, Nevada was the first state to ratify the ERA after the deadline. The amendment passed the Nevada State Assembly by a vote of 28-14. It passed the Nevada State Senate by a vote of 13-8.
Illinois and Virginia ratified the amendment in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
The map below shows the status of the federal ERA by state:[4]
Constitutional amendments in Nevada
In Nevada, the state legislature can propose amendments to the state constitution, and citizens can propose initiated constitutional amendments. Between 1995 and 2020, 62 constitutional amendments appeared on statewide ballots. Of that total, 38 were approved, and 24 were defeated. The following chart illustrates trends in constitutional amendments on the ballot in Nevada:
| Constitutional amendments on the ballot in Nevada, 1995-2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Even-year average | Even-year median | Even-year minimum | Even-year maximum | |
| 62 | 38 | 61.3% | 24 | 38.7% | 4.75 | 3.50 | 1 | 12 | |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Nevada Constitution
In Nevada, a majority vote is required in two successive sessions of the Nevada State Legislature to place an amendment on the ballot.
On June 1, 2019, the state Senate passed the amendment in a vote of 18-3. On June 3, 2019, the state Assembly passed the amendment in a vote of 33-8.[11]
2019 legislative session
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2021 legislative session
Both chambers of the state legislature needed to pass SJR 8 during the 2021 legislative session to refer the amendment to the ballot for the election on November 8, 2022.
On March 23, 2021, the Nevada State Senate approved SJR 8, with 18 senators supporting and three opposing the amendment. On March 24, the Nevada State Assembly approved SJR 8, with 30 members supporting and 12 opposing the amendment.[11]
As SJR 8 passed both chambers of the legislature in 2019 and 2021, it was referred to the ballot for the election on November 8, 2022.
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Nevada
Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Nevada.
| How to cast a vote in Nevada | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Poll timesAll polling places in Nevada are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[12][13] Registration
To register to vote in Nevada, each applicant must be must a citizen of the United States, a resident of Nevada for at least 30 days before the election, and at least 18 years old by the day of the election. Seventeen-year-olds can preregister to vote. Anyone who has been declared mentally incompetent by a court may not register to vote.[14] A voter registration application can be completed in person at the county clerk’s office, the Department of Motor Vehicles, other social service agencies, or college campuses. In-person registration must be completed 28 days before regular elections; registration forms submitted by mail must be postmarked by the same day. Online applications must be submitted by the Thursday before regular elections.[15][14]
Automatic registrationNevada automatically registers eligible individuals to vote through the Department of Motor Vehicles.[16] Online registration
Nevada has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registrationNevada allows same-day voter registration at polling places during early voting and on election day.[14] Residency requirementsIn order to register to vote in Nevada, applicants must be a resident of the state for at least 30 days prior to the election.[14] Verification of citizenshipNevada does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.[17] An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury. All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment.[18] As of November 2024, five states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, and New Hampshire — had passed laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration. However, only two of those states' laws were in effect, in Arizona and New Hampshire. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections as of November 2024. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registrationThe Nevada Secretary of State’s office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website.
Voter ID requirementsNevada does not require voters to present identification while voting, in most cases. A voter in Nevada must sign his or her name in the election board register at his or her polling place. The signature is compared with the signature on the voter's original application to vote or another form of identification, such as a driver's license, a state identification card, military identification, or another government-issued ID.[19] | |||||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nevada State Legislature, "SJR 8" accessed June 4 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 WMDT, "House gives final passage to Equal Rights Amendment in Del.," January 28, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Congressional Research Service, "Equal Rights Amendments: State Provisions," August 23, 2004
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Equal Rights Amendment, "History," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ The Nevada Independent, "Lawmakers push to add equal rights language to Nevada Constitution following long national ERA effort," accessed August 18, 2021
- ↑ Nevada State Legislature, "ADF Testimony," accessed August 18, 2021
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, "Statewide Ballot Questions 2022," accessed October 27, 2022
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, "Statewide Ballot Questions 2022," accessed October 27, 2022
- ↑ Govinfo.gov, "Text of federal ERA amendment," accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Nevada State Legislature, "SJR 8," accessed March 25, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Revised Statutes, "Title 24, Chapter 293, Section 273," accessed April 17, 2023
- ↑ ACLU of Nevada, "Know Your Voting Rights - Voting in Nevada," accessed April 17, 2023
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Nevada Secretary of State, “Elections,” accessed October 3, 2024
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, “Registering to Vote,” accessed April 17, 2023
- ↑ Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, “Voter Registration,” accessed April 17, 2023
- ↑ The Nevada Independent, “The Indy Explains: How does Nevada verify a voter's eligibility?” April 23, 2017
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ Nevada Revised Statutes, "NRS 293.277 Conditions for entitlement of person to vote; forms of identification to identify registered voter." accessed April 17, 2023
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