An amendment that would repeal language from the Nevada Constitution regarding slavery as punishment for a crime was certified for the 2024 ballot. Voters in Nevada will decide on the amendment on Nov. 5, 2024.
On Feb. 23, 2023, the Nevada State Senate voted unanimously to pass the amendment, with all 21 senators voting for it. Previously, the amendment passed the State Assembly on Feb. 16, also by a unanimous vote of 42-0. For a constitutional amendment to be certified for the ballot in Nevada, it must pass both chambers of the state legislature in two consecutive legislative sessions. It was previously approved during the 2021 legislative session.
Assemblyman Howard Watts (D-15), who co-sponsored the amendment, said, “I believe that it’s time for us to move forward and make it clear and unequivocal that nobody will ever live through the horror of state-sanctioned slavery, or servitude ever again.”
