LAS VEGAS — All Voting is Local and Silver State Voices are urging Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske to engage the public in the planning and creation of a new statewide manual on election procedures.
In a letter sent Thursday, groups note that they learned of the secretary of state’s office plans to update and consolidate all election guides into one manual during an Advisory Committee Meeting on Participatory Democracy in August.
“The significance of a statewide elections procedures manual must not be understated — the procedures in the manual have the power to protect or restrict the freedom to vote,” groups wrote in the letter. “Nevadans deserve opportunities to review and give feedback on the manual, as well as full transparency from your office on the process.”
In addition to publicizing the plans for the manual the groups are requesting that Cegavske:
- Make all planning meetings about the manual open to the public with opportunities for public comment.
- Provide a thorough timeline of manual plans so that the public has ample notice to participate in meetings and public comments periods.
- Use the manual to help promote standards for voting access across all communities by investing in language accessibility, and providing guidance on how voters with disabilities and/or elderly voters may vote using Nevada’s Effective Absentee System for Elections (EASE).
- Add a section into the manual that explicitly details best practices to protect the freedom to vote for Nevada Sovereign Nations.
- Ensure the manual is available and accessible to the public on the secretary of state’s office website and all 17 election official county websites.
The letter can be found here.