Clark County District Attorney election will exclude nearly 60% of voters

Clark County locals will soon get to vote and choose their next district attorney. But about 60 percent of the 994,000 registered voters will be left out — excluded from casting a ballot for district attorney because they’re not Democrats.

That’s because of a 2015 law passed by Senator James Settelmeyer — Republican politician of the Nevada Senate — which moved candidates from the general election to the primary should the race includes only contenders from a single political party.

That makes the primary winner the elected district attorney based solely on the votes from that political party. Voters from other parties will have nothing to do in the race because the name of the primary winner only appears on the general election ballot.

The district attorney election will be between incumbent Democrat Steve Wolfson and challenger Robert Langford is the only county-wide race that will be determined on June 12. The State of Nevada Senate District 10 and Assembly District 42 also will be chosen in the primary election because there are only Democratic candidates on the ballot. Another 30 posts throughout Clark County will appear on the November ballot but are effectively determined because there is only sole candidate.