Nevada Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak has vetoed a bill that would pledge the state's six electoral votes for President to the winner of the national popular vote.
The move was the governor's first veto in his first legislative session. The bill, Assembly Bill 186, would have put Nevada into a compact with 14 other states and the District of Columbia. Under the compact, electoral votes go to the winner of the national popular vote, instead of the candidate who wins their state.
In a statement, Governor Steve Sisolak said, "The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact could diminish the role of smaller states like Nevada in national electoral contests."
Nevada League of Women Voters supported the popular vote measure. Sondra Cosgrove is the group's president. She says she's disappointed in the decision and frustrated that media coverage on the issue wasn't more informative.
"And even the Governor, because I just read his press statement, was talking about small states and large states. And I can tell he doesn't really even understand what the compact was going to do," she says.
Cosgrove says her coalition will be back in Nevada in 2021 to try to pass the compact again.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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