1. A vacancy occurring in a party nomination for the office of State Senator, Assemblyman or Assemblywoman from a legislative district comprising more than one county may be filled as follows, subject to the provisions of subsections 2, 3 and 4. The county commissioners of each county, all or part of which is included within the legislative district, shall meet to appoint a person who is of the same political party as the former nominee and who actually, as opposed to constructively, resides in the district to fill the vacancy, with the chair of the board of county commissioners of the county whose population residing within the district is the greatest presiding. Each board of county commissioners shall first meet separately and determine the single candidate it will nominate to fill the vacancy. Then, the boards shall meet jointly and the chairs on behalf of the boards shall cast a proportionate number of votes according to the percent, rounded to the nearest whole percent, which the population of its county is of the population of the entire district. Populations must be determined by the last decennial census or special census conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce. The person who receives a plurality of these votes is appointed to fill the vacancy. If no person receives a plurality of the votes, the boards of county commissioners of the respective counties shall each as a group select one candidate, and the nominee must be chosen by drawing lots among the persons so selected.
2. If a vacancy occurs in a party nomination for the office of State Senator, Assemblyman or Assemblywoman from a legislative district comprising more than one county after the primary election and before 5 p.m. on the fourth Friday in July of the year in which the general election is held and:
(a) The vacancy occurs because the nominee dies or is adjudicated insane or mentally incompetent, the vacancy may be filled pursuant to the provisions of subsection 1.
(b) The vacancy occurs for a reason other than the reasons described in paragraph (a), the nominee’s name must remain on the ballot for the general election and, if elected, a vacancy exists.
3. No change may be made on the ballot for the general election after 5 p.m. on the fourth Friday in July of the year in which the general election is held. If, after that time and date:
(a) A nominee dies or is adjudicated insane or mentally incompetent; or
(b) A vacancy in the nomination is otherwise created,
the nominee’s name must remain on the ballot for the general election and, if elected, a vacancy exists.
4. Each designation of a candidate provided for in this section must be filed with the appropriate filing officer before 5 p.m. on the fourth Friday in July of the year in which the general election is held. In each case, the candidate must file a declaration of candidacy with the appropriate filing officer and pay the filing fee required by NRS 293.193 before 5 p.m. on the date the designation is filed.
(Added to NRS by 1967, 1087; A 1971, 437; 1981, 1699; 1989, 2159; 1999, 2150; 2005, 1433; 2011, 3276; 2013, 1179; 2015, 3573; 2019, 3372)