In Nevada, voters may decide on an initiative that would exempt public school teachers from the state’s prohibition on strikes. Petitioners submitted signatures on Nov. 18, 2024, and enough valid signatures were found to certify the measure to the legislature on Dec. 11, 2024. If the legislature does not act on the measure or rejects it, it may join two other constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2026: an amendment that would provide for the right to an abortion and an amendment that would require photo identification to vote.
In Nevada, citizens can initiate both constitutional amendments and state statutes. Nevada is one of 18 states that allow citizens to initiate amendments to the constitution and one of 21 states that allow citizens to initiate state statutes. However, unlike the 14 states that allow for direct initiatives when it comes to state statutes, Nevada is one of nine states that provide for indirect initiatives.
To place a citizen initiative on the ballot, the proponents supporting the initiative need to submit enough valid signatures, which vary depending on each state. In Nevada, the number of valid signatures must be equal to 10% of the total votes cast in the most recent general election. With direct initiatives, a measure is placed on the ballot after signatures are verified. With indirect initiatives, once enough signatures are verified, the initiative goes to the state legislature first. The legislature then has a certain number of days to adopt the initiative into law, or send the initiative to the ballot for voters to decide if they take no action or reject the initiative. In Nevada, the state legislature has 40 days at the start of the legislative session to act on the initiative.
For the initiative that would allow public school teachers to strike, a total of 127,812 valid signatures were collected by petitioners. A requirement of 102,362 signatures was needed. The Nevada State Legislature went into session on Feb. 3, 2025, and will now have 40 days to decide the measure.
Meanwhile, Nevadan voters will be deciding on two citizen-initiated constitutional amendments in 2026. Unlike other states, Nevada is the only state that requires constitutional amendments to pass at two successive general elections. This means that if a constitutional amendment is approved by voters in 2024, it must be approved again by voters in 2026 before it goes into effect.
The two constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2026 were approved by voters in 2024–Question 6, which would provide for a state constitutional right to an abortion, and Question 7, which would require photo identification to vote. Question 6 was approved by 64%-36%, and Question 7 was approved by 73%-27%.
Signatures were also filed for another initiative that aimed to limit the contingency fees attorneys can charge or receive in civil cases. However, the Nevada Supreme Court invalidated the initiative, ruling that its summary was misleading.
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