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Secret Ballot Watch

Las Vegas Newspaper Goes All In On Secret Ballot

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 24, 2009 | Alexa Marrero or Ryan Murphy ((202) 225-4527)

If it makes the statewide ballot, an initiative to protect workers’ privacy in Nevada would be a good bet.

That’s what the Las Vegas Review-Journal says in a recent editorial backing the measure, which is designed to prevent the “card check” provision of the proposed Employee Free Choice Act. The newspaper counts its chips here:


“Paperwork was filed this week with the secretary of state's office to circulate petitions that match those put forward in other states by the group Save Our Secret Ballot. The initiative is intended to head off any revival of the card check legislation, which would essentially end secret ballot elections in union organization drives.

“Secret ballots, of course, shield voters from coercion and retaliation. That's why the Save Our Secret Ballot initiative is worthy of the public's support. Caesars Palace and Wynn Las Vegas dealers had no trouble unionizing with secret-ballot elections in recent years, after all.

“If the initiative's backers are able to collect the 97,002 valid voter signatures needed to qualify for the 2010 ballot, it would be a heavy favorite to pass next year and again in 2012.”

Editorial, “Secret Ballots,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 11.19.09


The Review-Journal joins newspapers from coast to coast in the fight against EFCA. Even though passing the state proposals might not be enough to shield workers from the act’s devastating consequences of card check and forced government contracts, it’s noteworthy that so many states, from South Carolina to California, are taking action anyway. It’s time for EFCA supporters to admit the obvious and scrap their terrible bill.

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