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Should everyone vote?

CARSON CITY

When it comes to changing laws related to elections, there’s really only one question: Do you believe every single person eligible to vote should register and turn out?

If the answer is yes, you should be all about making it as easy and convenient as possible for people to exercise their voting franchise, and you should have to justify any truncation or reduction in policies that people have come to rely upon when voting.

Senate Bill 433 says its intent is to give all Nevada voters an equal opportunity to vote for a candidate of their choice, which is inoffensive enough in principle. But that insistence on equality may have produced a result that will cost Southern Nevadans an hour of voting time.

The bill limits permanent early voting locations to the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. statewide, a provision to which some Democratic senators from Southern Nevada objected. (Polls in the state’s most populous county have stayed open until 9 p.m., and they’re reportedly busy during those times with shift workers coming out to cast their ballots.)

The idea of equality and uniformity is fine, but if we’re to set hours, they should embrace — what’s that phrase? — the idea of giving all Nevada voters an equal opportunity to vote for a candidate of their choice. And while urban representatives are probably more than willing to let their rural brethren close up little-used polling sites early, Southern Nevada’s balloting locations shouldn’t have to shut down early simply to honor the idea of uniformity.

Again: Do you believe every single eligible person should register and vote?

Another measure, Senate Bill 436, concerns among other things the people who are actually registering voters. Under the bill, any person who intends to conduct a voter registration drive or sign up more than 50 people in a given year must register with the secretary of state, comply with regulations “to ensure quality control over voter persons conducting one or more voter registration drives and registering more than 50 people during a calendar year,” and sign up to be a field registrar.

Proponents of that language point to the infamous case of the now-defunct ACORN organization, where workers promised a bonus for signing up new voters filled out forms fraudulently. ACORN officials reported anomalies to the Clark County voter registrar, and their offices were raided by the secretary of state.

But that kind of fraud is the exception rather than the rule, and could be committed just as easily by someone registered with the secretary of state as it could with someone working for a community organizing group. The extra requirements don’t constitute an insurmountable burden on people who want to help sign up new voters, but it is a burden.

And if you believe every single person eligible to vote should register and vote, wouldn’t you also want to make it as easy as possible for that process to work?

Over in the Assembly, the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee has approved two bills, Assembly Bill 253 and Assembly Bill 266, that require voters to show identification before they’re allowed to cast a ballot. That ID could be a driver’s license or a voter ID card, issued for free by the Department of Motor Vehicles after a voter proves he or she is entitled to vote.

Proponents of the bill were at pains during hearings to demonstrate real-world examples of in-person voter fraud, which most authorities agree is rare. And alternatives — including one suggested in 2013 by former Secretary of State Ross Miller — that wouldn’t disenfranchise anybody who shows up at the polls without an ID haven’t been embraced.

If you believe every single eligible voter should register and vote, imposing an ID requirement that will definitely disenfranchise some people because of fears of a crime that hardly ever happens seems incongruous at best. That is, if you believe every eligible voter should register and vote.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com

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