Nevada’s number of active voters in September sets record

Nevada setarecordfor the number of active registered voters in September, the secretary of state’s office announced this week.

The total number of active registered voters hit 1,519,038 last month, the secretary of state’s office said, beating the previous record of 1,507,882 set in February 2017.

In the latest numbers, Democrats continued to stretch their voter registra- tion lead over Republicans thanks to a 8,547 increase for Democrats compared with as 6,908 increase in GOP voters. With a handful of weeks left to register for the midterm elections, the Democrats hold a registration lead of just under 70,000.

But nonpartisans saw the biggest total increase, jumping by 8,655, bringing that bloc up to 21.6 percent of the state’s total electorate.

Also, active-duty military, their families and overseas voters can start casting ballots through Nevada’s Effective Absentee System for Elections, an online system that contains the documents needed for voting.

Laxalt takes heat

Democrats are calling on Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt to release his bar association application and full criminal record after the Republican gubernatorial nominee acknowledged he was a “reckless and foolish” teen when he was arrested for assaulting a police officer in Virginia.

Records obtained by the Reno Gazette-journal from the city of Alexandria, where Laxalt was raised, show Laxalt was taken into custody for underage drinking in 1996.

A 17-year-old Laxalt was drinking at a woman’s house when officers were called, according to the report. After police entered the residence, Laxalt said he “reacted the wrong way” and tried to keep police from coming into the home. “Today, as a law enforcement officer, I under

CAMPAIGN

About a third of the 309 fatalities on Nevada’s roadways last year involved impairment, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, which held a news conference with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday to highlight the new law.

“Anybody who drives under the influence is a menace to society,” department spokesman Andrew Bennett said.

Citing research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Bennett said states with mandatory ignition interlock laws saw 16 percent decreases on average in impairment-related deaths.

The legislation, passed by the state Legislature in 2017 as SB 259, also provides offenders an opportunity to resume their lives while reducing the chances that they will get behind the wheel while impaired again, Bennett

said.

A driver arrested on a DUI offense can acquire a device from one of nine approved vendors in the state at a cost of roughly $60 to $80 per month, according to the Department of Public Safety.

For those convicted, judges will order that the device remain in place for at least 185 days if the driver’s blood alcohol concentration was below .18 percent, more than double the legal limit of .08 percent. The device could be required for two or three years if the level is highter than that, Bennett said.

Individuals who get the device installed to get their driver’s licenses restored before their cases are decided could get credit toward the required period for the device if they are found guilty, he said.

The devices also will be required for drivers convicted of DUI on marijuana, though they don’t detect pot.

Kevin Malone, a Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman, said

DUI offenders should contact the

department to see whether they have additional requirements to complete before reinstatement.

After driving privileges are reinstated, drivers will receive restricted licenses that require they operate only vehicles with ignition interlock devices, including company cars, Malone said.

Driving a car without the required device will be a “pretty serious offense,” Malone said.

Doing so could cost offenders their license for at least three years and could prompt another prosecution.

While the devices are not an endall, be-all to reducing traffic deaths, Bennett said they are a step in the right direction.

“That is our goal every single day. That’s the goal for my family, that’s the goal for you all is to make sure everybody arrives home safely at the end of the day,” Bennett said.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.