How Fair Is Fair? Am I As Well Represented As You?

One Man, One Vote ?

by Johnny Gunn

Each political subdivision in Nevada works under its own set of laws as set down in their Charter which must be accepted at the state level. A city Charter, County Charter, or charter from some other political division has specific rules that govern how representatives within that subdivision are elected, who they serve, what they are called. On top of that, there are state and federal laws that determine how state level representatives are elected, and how federal officers are put into office.

This current election cycle, as The Observer has noted, is going to be one of the years that may end up in history books down the line, as far as Nevada politics is concerned. Part of that is the fallout from the 2003 legislative session: supreme court rulings, school funding, and just plain old politics. Rights and wrongs won’t necessarily be deciding factors in how the election year shakes out.

Local Political Election Provisions

In this, the first of a series of feature articles outlining how we elect our representatives, we’re going to take a brief overview of election practices in a few select communities. As you read through these articles, I think you’ll be amazed at the differences in how our representatives come to sit at the tables where laws are made.

Money always plays a part in any election, and the discussion of money will come up in future features, and in the immortal words of that baseball great, you can bet on it.

Las Vegas

Most cities and counties have elected bodies that represent specific districts within their boundaries, but that is where all similarity ends. First, we’re going to look at the city of Las Vegas charter as it relates to electing city council members. City Council seats are nonpartisan. The latest revision to this part of the charter took place in 1999.

The Primary

Subsection one says, Primaries for city council are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in April. Beginning in 2001, and at each interval of four years, half the offices of councilman and for Municipal Judge, Department 2, must be nominated.

Subsection two says, Then on the Tuesday after the first Monday in 2003, and at each successive interval of four years, the candidates for Mayor, the rest of the council, and for Municipal Judge, Department 1 must be nominated.

Candidates are to run and be nominated in their respective wards. Even numbered wards following subsection one, odd numbered wards, subsection two.

If, in the primary, regardless of the number of candidates for an office, one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, that candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast, the names of the two candidates with the highest number of votes must be placed on the ballot for the general election.

The General

A general election must be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in June of odd numbered years, and on the same day every two years thereafter, at which time there must be elected, those officers whose offices are required to be filled. All city council candidates must be voted upon by the registered voters of the district that candidate will represent.

Only city officers not council persons, run at large in Las Vegas. The Mayor runs at large. City council runs only within their respective district.

From a purely fair point of view, this seems to be almost what one might have been thought about representational government. A candidate runs from a specific geographic district, is voted into office by electors in that geographic district. Some feel it can also lead to “Ward Lords,” that is, machine politics in which someone with considerable sway, go ahead, say money, can control the politics of a certain district.

Two or three of these machine politicians then could control a political entity such as Las Vegas, and that has led to other means of electing city council or county commission members in other districts.

Henderson

Some feel Henderson is the epitome of the one person, one vote concept, of what the founding fathers may have been thinking with their concept of representative democracy. In Henderson, Primary elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in April of each odd numbered year, and candidates for city council are voted on by registered voters at large. They are not elected only by voters within their district.

As with Las Vegas, if a candidate receives a majority of votes cast in the primary, the candidate does not have to stand in the general. If not, the two candidates with the highest total of votes must stand in the general election and be voted on by the voters of the city at large.

We Will Reach No Conclusions Before Their Time

As this series of features continues, you will find many variations in the two systems outlined above. Is one better than another? That is about as subjective a question as could be asked, and we at The Observer must let you make the decisions.

These two cities in southern Nevada have what they consider the fairest of all ways to elect local government representatives. Over the next several issues, we’ll look at how representatives are elected in Clark and Washoe Counties, in Reno and Sparks, Carson City, Carlin, Yerington, and even Caliente.

Nevada is a big state, and as with anything political, there will always be some who want to rule without regard to law, morals, ethics, or, in many cases, thought. That’s the driving force in our publication. To make you as aware as possible of your surroundings, politically, geographically, philosophically. And, as always, we solicit your comments. See the Contact Us page.