As we've been reporting, the Princeton Gerrymandering Project recently gave Nevada a failing grade for gerrymandering in partisan favor of Democrats. In response, the political group Fair Maps Nevada is relaunching a ballot initiative to bring greater oversight and transparency to the redistricting map process—something they claim needed to be improved during the 2021 Nevada Legislature special session.

"The maps were just presented to the public without any explanation of who drew them, what the criteria was? We now know that there is gerrymandering because the maps have been evaluated and people have had a chance to look at them," said Vote Nevada Executive Director and College of Southern Nevada History Professor Sondra Cosgrove.

Fair Maps Nevada first attempted to run a ballot initiative in 2020 but was unable to gather enough physical in-person signatures due to the pandemic to get it on the ballot. In that election, the group was sued but the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in their favor. On Tuesday, two new initiatives were filed with the Secretary of State's Office. One of the measures would take effect in 2027, assuming the ballot would pass the 2024 and 2026 ballots. The other would align with the standard 10-year census in 2031. The proposed measure would establish an independent redistricting commission consisting of two Democrats, two Republicans, and three non-partisans. Sondra Cosgrove, a spokesperson for the group, stated that they were motivated this time due to the lack of representation given to non-partisan voters, who currently make up around 40 percent of all voters in Nevada."

"Because of how our legislature works, they are exempt from open meeting law. When those maps were drawn, there was not a whole lot of effort to do outreach to people who are registered as non-partisan. And, we're arguing that if you're registered as a non-partisan, you decided to be a voter, you deserve not only the right to vote, you deserve fair representation," said Cosgrove. 

On November 10, we contacted the Nevada State Democratic Party regarding the Princeton Gerrymandering Project's report and requested a response by November 15. 

On November 21, they sent us the following statement:

"Nevada's maps are fair, the districts are competitive and ensure diverse representation across the state, and the updated lines have been upheld in court. Democrats are working to defend and expand our majorities in the Legislature so that Republican politicians in Carson City like Joe Lombardo can't continue to block legislation that would expand access to contraception, increase rental assistance for hardworking families, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and protect our communities from gun violence.”

(This story was originally posted on November 19, and updated to include the Nevada Democratic Party's response on November 21.)