Nevada redistricting happens every ten years. The lines for our state Senate, state Assembly, and congressional districts get redrawn after each census, and the people who draw them are the same people who have to run inside them. The party that controls the Legislature draws the maps that help decide who controls the Legislature.
That is backwards. Voters should choose their representatives. Representatives should not choose their voters.
With the 2026 election behind us, I’m turning my attention to fixing that. I’m working on a constitutional amendment to create a Nevada Citizens Redistricting Commission, and I want your help shaping it.
Why now
Nevada’s current maps were drawn in 2021 by one party holding the governor’s office and both houses of the Legislature. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave those maps an F for partisan advantage. After this month’s election, one party again holds the governor’s office and both houses. Under the current system, whoever wins in 2030 draws the 2031 maps, and the cycle repeats.
This isn’t about which party is in charge. If the other party held all the power, the problem would be exactly the same. Whoever holds the pen draws for themselves.
Nevadans have tried before
Citizens have tried to put an independent redistricting commission on the ballot in 2020, 2022, and 2024, and again for 2026. Every attempt was stopped, either in court or by the cost of collecting signatures. In 2024, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the proposal created a new state body without providing the revenue to pay for it. In 2025, the new petition was withdrawn after a lawsuit because the volunteers behind it could not afford a legal defense.
The idea is sound. The drafting and the funding have to be bulletproof. I spent 20 years as a Nevada civil litigation paralegal, and that is where I can help.
What the amendment does
- Takes the pen away from the Legislature. A 13-member citizens commission draws state Senate, state Assembly, and congressional districts: four members from each of the two largest parties and five Nevadans who belong to neither.
- Picks commissioners by random drawing. Legislative leaders can strike a limited number of applicants, but they cannot choose anyone.
- Keeps insiders out. Recent candidates, elected officials, party officers, lobbyists, legislative staff, and their close family members cannot serve.
- Works in public. Open meetings, public records, no private lobbying of commissioners, and public hearings across the state, including at least three outside Clark and Washoe counties.
- Requires agreement across the aisle. Maps must pass with votes from members of all three groups, with a fair fallback if the commission deadlocks.
- Sets the rules in order. Equal population and federal law first, then contiguous districts, communities of interest, no partisan advantage, no protection for incumbents, respect for county and city lines, and compactness.
- Bans mid-cycle redistricting. Maps stay in place for the decade unless a court orders a fix.
- Pays for itself. The money the Legislature already spends on redistricting moves to the commission, and a fee on lobbyist registrations covers the rest.
📄 Read the full text of the proposed amendment (PDF)
Built to be ready for 2031
In Nevada, a constitutional amendment proposed by petition must pass at two consecutive general elections. For this one, that means 2028 and 2030. An amendment approved in November 2030 would normally take effect too late to seat a commission before the 2031 maps are drawn.
So the draft includes a one-time transition clause. It sets faster deadlines for the first commission only, seats it by May 2031, voids any maps the Legislature tries to pass after the amendment takes effect, and then expires on December 31, 2032. After that, the regular schedule takes over.
It has worked elsewhere
The draft is modeled on the citizens commission Michigan voters adopted in 2018. The Nevada version is adjusted for our constitution, our two-vote rule, and the funding requirement that stopped earlier efforts here.
This is a working draft
I’m publishing this before anything is filed because I want it tested in public. Read the full draft text. Tell me what’s missing, what’s wrong, and what would make you sign the petition. I want to work with anyone who has carried this issue before me. This only succeeds if it comes from voters of every party and of no party.
Results, Not Noise.
