Sheila Leslie

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This opinion column was submitted by RGJ columnist Sheila Leslie, who served in the Nevada Legislature from 1998 to 2012.

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly has demonstrated how a global catastrophe can completely disrupt our lives. The horrific response to the crisis by President Trump and his cabinet also demonstrates how important it is to elect government officials who base decisions on science instead of narcissistic fantasies and who understand the proper role and responsibility of the federal government.

In just seven weeks, Nevadans will have the opportunity to choose our general election candidates as we participate in an historic all-mail primary election. Universal mail-in elections are not a novel concept. Oregon has been doing it successfully for 20 years. Our neighbors in Utah, Washington, Colorado and Hawaii also have adopted vote-by-mail elections while California uses a hybrid system to provide voters with many different options to have their voices heard.

Republicans are generally opposed to vote-by-mail, starting with President Trump who insists it is “corrupt” and “ripe for fraud” despite having voted by mail himself earlier this year. He hyperbolically revealed his real motive for opposing efforts to make voting easier, saying “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”

In Wisconsin, Republicans refused to cooperate with calls to postpone the April 7 primary, thereby forcing masked voters to line up for blocks when polling places were greatly reduced due to the lack of workers. But voters were willing to jeopardize their very lives during the pandemic to exercise their voting rights. Ironically, Republicans didn’t get the results they wanted, as voters leaned decidedly Democratic, ousting an incumbent Republican Supreme Court justice in favor of a more progressive Democrat.

The day after the Wisconsin primary, Trump continued to advocate against mail-in voting, tweeting “Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans.”

Of course, the reason mail in voting “doesn’t work out well” for Republicans is significantly more people actually vote, and Democrats benefit as these voters tend to be younger and more progressively inclined.

In Nevada, our lone Republican serving in statewide office, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, surprised me when she endorsed a universal vote-by-mail option for our June primary, saying she consulted local election registrars before concluding it was the best way to protect the health of poll workers and the public.

During her service in the Nevada Legislature, Cegavske was not known for embracing voting rights. She was a leading proponent of voter ID laws and she opposed same-day registration. Perhaps her lonely position as the only statewide elected Republican has given her a more progressive outlook or maybe she’s sincerely concerned about our health. In any event, it was the right call.

This week attorneys for the Democratic party sent a letter to Cegavske asking for changes in the details of her vote-by-mail plan, demanding that every registered voter receive a ballot, not just "active" voters. They also want more than one polling location per county to accommodate same-day registration and allow people who prefer to vote in person to do so. Cegavske would be wise to adopt these changes and avoid a court battle.

We’ll see how it goes. There will undoubtedly be issues with vote-by-mail the first time around, but remember that in-person voting has multiple problems as well, such as vulnerable and malfunctioning electronic voting machines, long lines at times, and insufficient poll workers.

More:Nevada elections officials shoot down Democrat-requested tweaks to June's all-mail primary

When Nevada’s legislators inevitably go into special session later this year to deal with looming and massive budget deficits, they should take up the issue of vote-by-mail and not leave the structure of the November election to Cegavske’s whims. Let’s follow Oregon’s lead and adopt universal mail-in balloting, with in-person options for those who prefer to vote that way.

Removing Trump and replacing his incompetent administration is the most important vote we’ll ever cast. Nevadans must have every opportunity to ensure our votes count.

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