A measure to implement ranked-choice voting and a top-five open primary system in Nevada failed before voters on Tuesday, two years after the state approved it during the midterms, Decision Desk HQ projects.
Voters in Nevada approved the ballot measure in 2022 with a narrow 53 percent support, but the state requires constitutional initiatives get through two successive cycles , and Nevadans shot it down in its second showing.
The measure, which had faced continued opposition in the state over the last two years, would have amended the Nevada Constitution with the election changes, doing away with partisan primaries in favor of an all-candidate contest. The top five vote-getters then would have advanced to a ranked-choice general election, in which voters would pick their candidates in order of preference.
Under ranked-choice voting, if no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and ballots with the eliminated candidate as their first-choice are shifted to their voters’ second choice. The process repeats until a candidate wins a majority.