Now that South Carolina's Democratic primary is over, the next stop is Nevada for the Presidential Preference Primary on Tuesday, February 6.Â
Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson is appealing to the state's largest voting block, registered non-partisan and independent voters in Nevada, who are not allowed to vote in the closed primary.Â
Williamson urges these non-affiliated voters to register as soon as possible, though voters can register on primary day.
"A lot of people are saying they feel politically homeless, but they want to weigh in, and that's why I'm saying to people, you can become a Democrat-for-a-day. Suppose you are not a registered Democrat and want to vote for me. In that case, you can go to any polling station, register, and then if it feels good where it, if not go back to non-affiliated afterward," said Democratic candidate for U.S. President Marianne Williamson.
Williamson supports ballot measure three, which proposes open primaries regardless of party and ranked-choice voting.Â
Ranked choice voting is a type of electoral system that allows the top five candidates, regardless of party, to move forward to the general election. This system enables voters to select multiple candidates in order of preference rather than just picking one. When casting their vote, individuals fill out the ballot with their first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on, as necessary, for each position.
When voting for a candidate, they win if one person receives over 50% of the first-choice votes. However, a new counting process must occur if a candidate is within this threshold. The candidate who received the least votes is eliminated in this process, and their voters' ballots are redistributed to their second-choice pick.
"You have 700-thousand disenfranchised voters in Nevada, people who cannot vote in the primary because they are neither Republican nor Democrat. But I think what the country is going through right now is that our democracy itself is going through a sort of existential crisis. How dedicated are we to the idea of democracy, the idea that every person's voice matters," said Williamson.
In Nevada, initiated constitutional amendments must be approved at two successive general elections. In 2022, the ballot initiative was approved as Question 3. Therefore, the ballot initiative must be approved for a second time on November 5, 2024.
On Saturday in Las Vegas, Williamson participated in a panel discussion on the challenges of a two-party system and spoke again in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Check out Marianne Williamson's 2024 platform HERE.
