Nevada 2016 ballot measures

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Four measures were certified to appear on the Nevada ballot on November 8, 2016. All four were approved.

HIGHLIGHTS

A total of four ballot measures, all initiatives, appeared on the November 8, 2016, ballot in Nevada. Issues on the ballot included marijuana, firearms, energy, and taxes.

Question 1 required background checks for individuals purchasing firearms from unlicensed persons.

Question 2 legalized, regulated, and taxed marijuana.

Question 3 would require the legislature to eliminate energy monopolies and establish a competitive market. The measure needs to be approved again in 2018.

Question 1 was designed to require that an unlicensed person who wishes to sell or transfer a firearm to another person conduct the transfer through a licensed gun dealer who runs a background check. The measure was approved by voters.

Question 2 was approved, legalizing marijuana for adults.

Question 3 would eliminate energy monopolies and minimize the regulatory burden. The measure was approved. As a constitutional amendment, the measure needs to be approved again in 2018.

Question 4 would require that certain types of equipment, including durable medical equipment, mobility enhancing equipment and oxygen delivering equipment, be exempt from the sales and use tax. The measure was approved. As a constitutional amendment, the measure needs to be approved again in 2018.

Question 5 was a veto referendum that would have retained or repealed the section of Senate Bill 374 that established a fixed fee for solar customers that differed from the fixed fee for other ratepayers. The Nevada Supreme Court removed it from the ballot on August 4, 2016. The court ruled that the measure's description contained biased language.

Citizens of Nevada may initiate statutes through the process of indirect initiative and constitutional amendments through the process of direct initiative. Once sufficient signatures have been collected, statutory initiatives are first presented to the Nevada State Legislature. If approved by the legislature and signed by the Governor, the proposed statute becomes law. If not, the law is submitted to voters at the next general election. However, upon the Governor's recommendation (and approval), the legislature may propose an alternative statute to voters. Proposed amendments proceed directly to a vote of the people, but must be approved at two consecutive elections.

The deadline for submitting signatures to qualify ballot initiatives for the November ballot in Nevada was June 21, 2016. To qualify an indirect initiated state statute required 55,237 valid signatures, and the same number of signatures was required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment and a referendum. This number of required signatures was significantly lower than the number of signatures (101,666) required to qualify a measure for the 2014 ballot.

At least 12 initiatives were filed for potential spots on the 2016 ballot. Six of the potential measures were initiated constitutional amendments. In Nevada, this type of measure needs to be approved in two even-numbered election years, meaning the initiative would need to be approved in 2016 and again in 2018 to amend the Nevada Constitution.

Legislative referrals can be added to the ballot by the Nevada State Legislature. According to Article 16, Section 1 of the Nevada Constitution, an amendment proposed by the legislature must be approved by a majority in both the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. Nevada has no regular 2016 legislative session, as the legislature is only required to meet a total of 120 calendar days in two years.

The Nevada Secretary of State provides a list of filed initiatives, which can be viewed here.

Historical facts

See also: History of Initiative & Referendum in Nevada and List of Nevada ballot measures

A total of 73 measures have appeared on statewide ballots between 1996 and 2016. Ballot measures only appear in even-numbered years in Nevada.

• Between 1996 and 2016, an average of seven measures have appeared on even-numbered years on the ballot in Nevada.
• The number of measures appearing on statewide ballots from 1996 to 2016 has ranged from one to 17.
• Between 1996 and 2016, about 58 percent (42 of 73) of statewide ballots have been approved by voters, and about 42 percent (31 of 73) have been defeated.

On the ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
IndISS	Question 1	Firearms	Background checks for gun purchases	a
IndISS	Question 2	Marijuana	Legalization of marijuana	a
CICA	Question 3	Energy	Regulations on the energy market	a
CICA	Question 4	Taxes, Healthcare	Sales tax exemption for medical equipment	a

Cost per required signatures

See also: Ballot measure signature costs, 2016

The cost per required signatures (CPRS) is a comparison of the amount of money spent on the petition drive to the number of signatures the state requires for an initiative to make the ballot. Of the four initiatives on the ballot, the CPRS was the highest for Question 1.

Ballot Measure:	Topic:	Petition company	Cost	Signatures	CPRS
Nevada Question 3	Energy	FieldWorks, LLC	$405,259.96	55,234	$7.34
Nevada Question 4	Taxes	Bennett Medical Services	$110,125.00	55,234	$1.99
Nevada Question 1	Firearms	FieldWorks, LLC	$1,241,889.51	101,667	$12.22
Nevada Question 2	Marijuana	Nevada Petition Management	$115,000.00	101,666	$1.13
Averages:	N/A	FieldWorks, LLC	$468,068.62	N/A	$5.67

Not on the ballot

See also: Proposed ballot measures that were not on a ballot

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
VR	Question 5	Energy	Repeals provisions of Senate Bill 374, which created a fixed fee for solar customers that differed from the fixed fee for other ratepayers
VR	Commerce Tax Repeal	Taxes	Repeals Senate Bill 483 passed in spring 2015, which includes a tax applied to the gross revenue of businesses that collect more than $4 million from the state annually
CICA	Minimum Wage Increase Initiative	Minimum wage	Increases the state's minimum wage to $9.25
CICA	Pupil Information Privacy Protection Initiative	Education	Mandates specific privacy protections for students
CICA	"Healthcare Freedom Protection" Initiative	Healthcare	Prohibits the state or a local government from creating a health insurance exchange or contracting an outside source to create
CICA	Voter Identification Initiative	Elections and campaigns	Requires those wishing to vote in person to present identification
LRCA	State Legislature Revision Amendment	Legislature	Provides for annual regular sessions, authorizes the legislature to hold sessions outside the capital, establishes a minimum monthly salary for legislators, and requires consent of the senate for certain executive appointments

State profile

Demographic data for Nevada
	Nevada	U.S.
Total population:	2,883,758	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	109,781	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	69%	73.6%
Black/African American:	8.4%	12.6%
Asian:	7.7%	5.1%
Native American:	1.1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.6%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	27.5%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.1%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	23%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$51,847	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	17.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nevada. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Nevada

Nevada voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Nevada coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Nevada
• United States congressional delegations from Nevada
• Public policy in Nevada
• Endorsers in Nevada
• Nevada fact checks
• More...

See also

• 2016 ballot measures
• List of Nevada ballot measures
• Nevada signature requirements
• Laws governing the initiative process in Nevada
• History of Initiative & Referendum in Nevada

External links

Suggest a link

• Nevada Secretary of State