In 1987, the Nevada Legislature decided to try to do something about the decline in the state’s voter turnout rate. What it came up with was a program that would make voter registration possible at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Most people must go to the DMV about once a year, the thinking went, so this would make it a matter of a single stop for two purposes. It was an idea being tried elsewhere. Republicans weren’t wild about the idea, and they controlled the Nevada Senate, but Democrats liked it, and this was still in the days when the political parties worked together, so the measure passed. It became known as motor voter. The measure was enacted before the federal government took an interest in it. There was no federal legislation or mandate involved. The program required cooperation between county clerk or county voter registrar offices and the state DMV offices. Overseeing the launch of the program was the Nevada Secretary of State’s office. I was the chief deputy secretary of state then. Nevada’s turnout rate had never been something to brag about, but in recent years it had been dropping still more. Only about four in every 10 Nevadans eligible to vote got registered in the 1980s.
OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
continued on page 14
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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APRIL 7, 2016
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RN&R
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