Seth A. Richardson

srichardson@rgj.com

State Senate Democrats are blocking a bill introduced by a Republican that would switch from partisan to open primaries, allowing all registered voters regardless of party in Nevada to participate.

Senate Bill 103 introduced by state Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, would have created an open primary process where the top two vote-getters in the primary move on to the general election. Currently, Nevada holds partisan primaries where only registered party members can vote, essentially keeping around 28 percent of registered voters – about 413,000 people – from participating.

Despite Democrats’ policy outline – called the “Nevada Blueprint” – expressly stating they would “Fight to ensure that voting is free, fair, and accessible for all eligible voters in Nevada,” Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, said Settelmeyer’s bill won't get a hearing.

“We don’t feel it’s worthy of a hearing. Next question,” Ford said during media availability on Friday, cutting off the inquiry as to why he felt that way.

Democrats have held hearings on several election reform proposals, all introduced by caucus members, including restoring the voting rights of ex-felons and awarding electoral college votes to whomever wins the popular vote.

Related: Nevada Democrats are trying to restore the voting rights of ex-felons

They also voted along party lines in both chambers to approve an initiative petition that would’ve automatically registered people to vote when updating their Department of Motor Vehicle information.

The new registrants would’ve been marked as nonpartisan unless they declared a party. Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, vetoed the measure, which will now appear on the 2018 ballot.

Related: Sandoval issues first veto of session blocking motor voter initiative

Settelmeyer said he didn’t think his bill was being killed for partisan reasons.

“I think he just doesn’t like the idea for some reason,” he said. “I like the idea of trying to let people to vote.”

Doug Goodman, an election reform advocate, said not allowing nonpartisans and minor party registrants to participate in primary elections disproportionately affects younger voters.

According to figures from the secretary of state’s office, around 38 percent of voters aged 18 to 34 are nonpartisan or minor party, outpacing the 23 percent of Republicans and close to the 40 percent of Democrats.

The national and state Democratic Party platforms do not explicitly address open primaries, but the national platform adopted in 2016 does say the party wants to make it easier for people to vote.

“It is a core principle of the Democratic Party to maximize voter participation for all Americans,” the platform reads. “Our democracy suffers when nearly two thirds of our citizens do not or cannot participate, as in the last midterm elections. Democrats believe we must make it easier to vote, not harder.”

Goodman couldn’t make sense of why Democrats were hearing other bills and trumpeting other election reforms, but wouldn't consider Settelmeyer's proposal.

“There seems to be a gap in the thought process,” he said.

Seth A. Richardson covers politics for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Like him on Facebook here or follow him on Twitter at @SethARichardson.