Opinion ID: 2633581
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nevada Constitution

Text: Nevada Constitution Article 19, Section 2 provides that the people reserve unto themselves the power to propose and enact statutes, amendments to statutes, and amendments to the Nevada Constitution by initiative petition. Article 19, Section 5, however, provides that the legislature may provide by law for procedures to facilitate the operation of [Article 19's provisions]. Thus, the Nevada Constitution explicitly authorizes the Legislature to enact laws regulating the initiative process, so long as those laws facilitate the provisions of Article 19. The proponents fail to address or acknowledge Article 19, Section 5 and its express grant of authority to the Legislature. By limiting petitions to a single subject, NRS 295.009 facilitates the initiative process by preventing petition drafters from circulating confusing petitions that address multiple subjects. This goal was endorsed by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in evaluating the constitutionality of Colorado's single-subject requirement in Campbell v. Buckley. [6] As the Campbell court noted, single subject ... requirements serve to prevent voter confusion and promote informed decisions by narrowing the initiative to a single matter and providing information on that single matter to the voter. [7] The Campbell court concluded that single-subject requirements for initiative petitions do not impermissibly limit the people's ability to legislate or amend the constitution, noting that a second subject that might have been included in the first petition can be addressed by creating a second petition. [8] And, although the United States Supreme Court has not addressed the constitutionality of single-subject requirements, in an opinion addressing the constitutionality of several Colorado statutes regulating the initiative process, the Court, in dictum, classified Colorado's single-subject requirement as a process measure[] that facilitates efficiency, veracity, or clarity in the initiative process. [9] NRS 295.009's single-subject requirement facilitates the provisions of Article 19. Accordingly, under Article 19, Section 5, the Legislature had the authority to enact this requirement for initiative petitions. [10] The challenge to this statute's constitutionality under the Nevada Constitution therefore necessarily fails. [11]