(The Center Square) – Five out of seven statewide ballot propositions were approved in Nevada. Three of those will be passed into law. Two propositions will be moving on to the 2026 election – citizen-led initiatives must be passed in two consecutive even-year elections. Here’s what they are and what they mean for Nevadans:
Revising Language Related to Public Entities for Individuals with Mental Illness, Blindness or Deafness Amendment
This ballot proposition passed with 65.97% of the votes and changed some language in the Nevada Constitution. According to the legislative language, it revises the description of the people who benefit “institutions that the State is required to foster and support,” to replace the term “institutions” with “entities.” Additionally, it replaces the phrase, “insane, blind, deaf and dumb persons” with “persons with significant mental illness, persons who are blind or visually impaired, persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and persons with intellectual disabilities or developmental disabilities.
The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that constitutional language is “not deemed discriminatory or narrow,” according to Sen. Robin Titus.
Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment
This amendment passed with 60.6% of Nevadans’ support, removing the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment. Only seven other states have this provision in their state constitution.
Involuntary servitude is a form of criminal punishment akin to slavery that forces prisoners to work or do manual work without zero or minimal compensation. People who refuse to comply may face consequences and have certain privileges taken away.
California also had a similar proposition on the ballot, but the measure did not pass.
Sales Tax Exemption for Diapers Measure
This measure amends the 1955 Sales and Use Tax Act to provide an exemption for taxes imposed by this act on the gross receipts from the sale and the storage, use or other consumption of diapers. The intention of this measure is to make sure that parents are able to afford diapers for the safety and cleanliness of their young children.
“With newborns requiring 8-10 diapers per day, families can spend over $1,200 per year on diapering supplies,” reads a statement from Kelly Maxwell, executive director of Baby’s Bounty. “In addition to the health consequences, diapers play a crucial role in our economy, profoundly impacting the opportunities available to parents. Without an adequate supply of diapers, parents are unable to send their children to daycare, preventing their attendance at work or school. 57% of parents missed an average of four days of school or work in the past month due to a lack of diapers.”
Right to Abortion Initiative
Nevadans voted in support of putting a fundamental right to abortion up until fetal viability and afterwards if necessary for the woman’s mental or physical health in the state constitution with 64.36% of the votes and will be on the 2026 ballot.
While Nevada already has provisions to protect the right to abortion, proponents of this measure say it is important to add this extra layer of protection.
“We are in a crisis, like we’ve never been before, with reproductive freedom all over the country, including here in Nevada,” Caroline Mello Robinson, director of state campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All said in a statement. “States like ours, which have statutory protections — which are awesome — need to expand those protections by putting covenant protections in our state Constitution.”
Require Voter Identification Initiative
With an overwhelming 73.23% of the vote, this initiative passed and will be on the ballot again in the 2026 midterm election. This initiative would amend the state constitution to require voters to present photo identification when voting in-person and provide specific personal information when voting by mail.
At this time, 35 states require voters to present identification in order to vote. This initiative had partisan support with Republicans advocating a yes vote to create transparency and ensure that non-citizens are not voting in elections.
Opponents say that this initiative would make it difficult for legitimate voters to vote if they are unable to obtain an ID or bring the wrong identification to the polling place.
The two propositions that did not pass were the Remove Constitutional Status of Board of Regents Amendment and the Top-Five Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative.
