When America’s founders declared our independence in 1776, they promised a new kind of nation that would derive its power “from the consent of the governed.”

Almost a century later, Abraham Lincoln reaffirmed the promise of the United States that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Just months after the Gettysburg Address, Nevada joined the union by transmitting our state constitution, which declares that “All political power is inherent in the people[.]”

Despite these platitudes, every two years more than a million Nevadans and hundreds of millions of Americans choose not to participate in primary elections, and thus surrender their right to have a voice and vote in their government.

According to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office, in 2022, only 25% of active registered voters cast a ballot in the primary election. Since 2002, participation in the Nevada primary has never surpassed 30% of active registered voters, even in Presidential election years. (At the same time, voting in the general elections has increased.)

Due to this low turnout, primary elections—especially those for critical local roles like judges, local council members and state legislators—often turn on narrow margins, with only a few hundred votes determining the outcome.

In fact, due to voter registration patterns that favor one party by at least a 2-to-1 margin, the winners of the primary elections for Assembly districts 6, 7, 11 and 18; as well as Senate districts 4 and 19—all of which are located within Clark County—are all but guaranteed to win the general election. Not to mention, tiny participation and narrow margins means that special interests could easily distort the elections and wield disproportionate control.

In nonpartisan races, candidates who secure at least 50.01% of the total vote can be declared the winner without going to a November runoff. That possibility is fueling the mayoral campaign of Victoria Seaman, who is looking to consolidate conservative voters in the primary while Shelley Berkley, Cedric Crear and Kara Jenkins fight for voters on the left.

Even in circumstances where the primary does not determine the final outcome, it still determines which candidates voters will decide between in November.

Given that education, housing, transportation, small-business licensing, criminal justice, social welfare and even climate reform are all legislated at the state and local level, learning about local candidates and participating in primary elections is just as important as casting a vote for president.

MAGA extremists who control the Republican Party are engaged in years-long campaign to weaponize state and local government and force it to serve a single partisan ideology. If they are successful, they’ll have the ability to manipulate the polls, ban books and limit the rights and freedoms so many of us take for granted. Most importantly, they’ll be able to do it all without a single act of Congress or the president.

Fortunately, we have the power to stop them. But only if we make the choice to pay attention to state and local elections and cast a ballot.

We know that being informed on state and local elections isn’t a simple, easy or cost-free task. Finding reliable information about candidates for public office requires time, energy and patience—resources few of us have in abundance.

Primary elections can be even more challenging as there is generally a greater number of candidates, each of whom has less name recognition and fewer sources of information available than in the general election. While the internet can make searching for some information easier, it can also add a lot of noise to the conversation.

We hope that this election guide helps clear some of that noise. Civil service and democracy need your help and your vote, as well as the votes of your friends, family and neighbors. The future of our schools, communities and indeed Nevada, is relying on you, and all of us, to do our part to ensure that the decisions about state and local elected officials are just as well informed and have just as much participation as federal elections that dominate our national political discourse.

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