The race for Washoe County School District Board of Trustees
District C trustee has become a textbook example of why the 2017 session of the
Nevada legislature needs to enact the Nevada
Election Modernization and Reform Act – 2017 (NEMRA – 2017).
Because the incumbent resigned before completing one-half
their term and after the filing deadline for the primary election, the new
school board trustee could be elected with the support of less than 15 percent
of the registered voters in the district. Perhaps 80 percent of those who did
vote will have voted for someone else. Mandate? Not even close.
As of July 14, 2016,
there were 47,552
registered voters in District C. Since this race is non-partisan, party
registration does not matter. Average voter
turnout for school board trustee elections in presidential election years
(1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) is 67.9 percent. Using current registration,
this means 32,288 voters can be expected to cast ballots for District C school
board trustee. With a relatively strong turnout why such low support for the
winner and such a strong justification for NEMRA - 2017?
Five
candidates, no runoff of the top two vote getters as the case with the
other four school board races that were contested in the primary, and 32,288
votes split five ways. With less than
6,500 votes needed for election, the new trustee will not have the support of a
significant majority of voters.
Under
NERMA – 2017 this would be different. Regardless of the number of
candidates, the winner would have the support of a much larger segment of the
district. With a large plurality, if not majority of support, the newly elected
trustee would take their seat knowing they truly represent the district and
voters would be confident their representative on the school board represents
their interests.
By utilizing a system where the primary and general election
are rolled into one, where voters only have to go to the polls once, voter
turnout is maximized and those elected have a much larger base of support.
Allowing government officials to be elected with low levels
of support can make governing, the setting of policy, difficult. Can an elected
official make the right decision knowing they are speaking for only a small
portion of their constituents? Can voters have confidence in the decisions of
their representative when a significant number did not support their election?
It’s unlikely. And an election system that fosters such an outcome needs to be
seriously re-evaluated and eventually replaced.
The race for Washoe County School District Board of Trustees
District C will be the 22nd
election contest this year where the winner is decided by a small minority
of voters, perhaps less than 15 percent.
Nevada’s lawmakers can make 2016 the last year where
outcomes such as this are possible by passing the NEMRA – 2017 during the
legislative session beginning in February.
