Nevada Constitution Art. 15, § 18. Ranked-choice voting for general elections for partisan office

1. All general elections for partisan office shall he conducted by ranked-choice voting.

2. The general election ballots for partisan office shall he designed so that the candidates are selected by ranked-choice voting.

3. The general election ballots for partisan office shall he designed so that at the voter is directed to mark candidates in order of preference and to mark as many choices as the voter wishes, but not to assign the same ranking to more than one candidate for the same office.

4. Immediately following the name of each candidate for a partisan office must appear the name or abbreviation the political party with the candidate is registered, the words "no political party" or the abbreviation "NPP," as the case may be.

5. The ballots for the general elections for partisan office must include a conspicuously placed statement that: "Each candidate for partisan office may state a political party that he or she prefers. A candidate's preference does not imply that the candidate is nominated or endorsed by the party, or that the party approves of or associates with that candidate."

6. When counting ballots in a general election for partisan office, the Registrar, County Clerk, or chief election official (as applicable) in each County shall initially tabulate each validly cast ballot as one vote for the highest-ranked candidate on that ballot or as an inactive ballot. If a candidate is highest-ranked on a majority of the active ballots, that candidate is elected and the tabulation is complete. If no candidate is highest-ranked on a majority of the active ballots, tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds as outlined in Section 7.

7. Tabulation proceeds in sequential rounds as follows:

a. If two or fewer continuing candidates remain, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected and the tabulation is complete; otherwise, the tabulation continues under (h) of this subsection.

b. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, votes cast for the eliminated candidate shall cease counting for the eliminated candidate and shall be added to the totals of each ballot's next-highest-ranked continuing candidate or considered an inactive ballot under (8)(b) and (8)(c) of this section, and a new round begins under (7)(a) of this subsection.

8. When counting general election ballots for partisan office,

a. A voter may choose to rank just one candidate/or partisan office, and that vote will be tabulated.

b. A ballot containing an overvote shall be considered an inactive ballot once the overvote is encountered at the highest ranking for a continuing candidate.

c. If a ballot skips a ranking, then the election board shall count the next ranking. If the next ranking is another skipped ranking, the ballot shall be considered an inactive ballot/or that race.

d. Any votes for "None of These Candidates" shall be tabulated, recorded and made public, but not be counted/or the purpose of electing or ranking any candidates for partisan office.

e. In the event of a tie between the final two continuing candidates, the winner shall be decided in a manner as provided by statute.

f. In the event of a tie between two candidates with the fewest votes, the candidate eliminated shall be decided by lot.

g. An inactive ballot may not be counted for any candidate in that particular race.

9. As used in this section:

a. "Continuing candidate" means a candidate who has not been eliminated.

b. "Inactive ballot" means a ballot that is no longer tabulated, either in whole or in part, because it does not rank any continuing candidate, contains an overvote at the highest continuing ranking, or contains two or more sequential skipped rankings before its highest continuing ranking.

c. "Overvote" means an instance where a voter has assigned the same ranking to more than one candidate.

d. "Ranking" or "ranked" means the number assigned by a voter to a candidate to express the voter's choice for that candidate; a ranking of "1" is the highest ranking, followed by "2," and then "3," and so on.

e. "Round" means an instance of the sequence of voting tabulation in a general election for partisan office.

f. "Skipped ranking" means a blank ranking on a ballot on which a voter has ranked another candidate at a subsequent ranking.

g. "Partisan office" means the Offices of United States Senator, United States Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, and State Legislators, and excludes the Offices of President of the United States and Vice President of the United States.

10. Completion of ballot count; certificate.

a. The certification of results shall be conducted as provided by Nevada law.

11. Implementation

a. Not later than July 1, 2025, the Legislature shall provide by law for provisions consistent with this constitutional amendment, including providing for disclosure as to the full ranking of each candidate.

b. Upon enactment of any law by the Legislature pursuant to this constitutional amendment before July 1, 2025, and not later than that date, any laws, regulations, regulatory orders or other provisions which conflict with this constitutional amendment will be void. However, the Legislature may enact legislation, in whole or in part, consistent with this constitutional amendment before July 1, 2025.