Victories keep on giving: felon re-enfranchisement in Nevada

The crew that gave their all to win the 2018 vote for Democrats in Nevada led by new Governor Steve Sisolak can savor another win: the current Democratic state legislature is on its way automatically restoring the voting rights of all felons. The old rules were incomprehensible; some ex-prisoners could vote but many could not. And hardly anyone knew which ones were which. Canvassers struggled to figure out whether they could tell people they met on the doors that they could vote.

Now, according to the Reno Gazette Journal, that's going to change.

Nevada could soon become the 39th state to automatically restore voting rights to people released from prison.

The Nevada Legislature on Wednesday passed Assembly Bill 431, which would immediately allow ex-felons to vote, including those convicted in another state. The bill also allows people convicted of a crime, but not imprisoned, to cast a ballot. The measure applies retroactively to previously released offenders.

... Corey Goldstone, a spokesman for the Campaign Legal Center, estimated the bill would restore voting rights to more than 77,000 residents.

... Sisolak, an outspoken proponent of election reforms such as same-day registration and expanded early voting, is expected to sign the measure in the coming weeks.

There's plenty more coming from the majority-woman Democratic-led state legislature in the Silver State: gun safety legislation proposed by a survivor of the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting massacre, repeal of previously passed Republican measures that impeded collective bargaining for state employees like teachers and firefighters, and repeal of antique state abortion restrictions (largely unenforceable under Roe v. Wade) mostly held over from the early 20th century.