Effort to recall Sisolak continues

Nevada may be under a “Stay at Home” order as COVID-19 continues to ravage the country but those involved in the effort to remove Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak from office have a deadline to adhere to and they are pushing forward with their recall effort.

Fight For Nevada filed its letter of intent to recall Sisolak in mid-February and the organization has 90 days total, until mid-May, to collect the signatures of more than 243,000 voters who participated in the gubernatorial election in 2018.

With social distancing requirements and a mandate that groups of 10 or more cannot congregate, however, the volunteers collecting those signatures have had to pivot somewhat in order to continue their mission. Rather than holding petition signings in the normal fashion, Fight For Nevada members, just like many other businesses and organizations around the state, are switching to a drive-through system that allows participants to stay in their cars and reduce their exposure.

“We’re doing drive-through locations for the recall now,” Savannah Zimmerman, leader of the Fight for Nevada effort in Nye County, explained on Thursday, April 9. She noted that she was planning to set up at the Amargosa Senior Center on Monday, April 13 and has plans for two more days of petition signing this week.

“We’ll be at the Super Pawn parking lot in Pahrump on Wednesday, April 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and we’ll be at the cul-de-sac behind O’Reilly’s Auto Parts on Friday, April 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.” The cul-de-sac Zimmerman was referring to is located off Yellowhand Avenue just southeast of Walmart.

“These are all drive-through locations so no one has to get out of their cars,” Zimmerman continued.

The group working to collect the signatures will be prepared with protective gear to help reduce any risk to the volunteers and the public. “There will be masks and gloves for volunteers and everything will be wiped down before each use,” she stated.

Sisolak issued a stay-at-home order on April 1.

“Today’s ‘Stay at Home’ directive strengthens the imperative that Nevadans must not leave their homes for nonessential activities in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” said Governor Sisolak in a statement on April 1. “This directive builds on previous directives around school closures, social distancing, closure of non-essential businesses, and bans on public gatherings of 10 or more people by requiring you stay at home unless leaving is absolutely necessary.”

As with most everything else these days, the recall effort has also gone online. All petition signatures must be made by putting pen to paper, so the petition itself cannot be signed online. It can, however, be printed from home so residents can gather signatures on their own.

“When you get a petition to gather signatures, you are responsible for getting it notarized and to get it to the contact person for your county,” the Fight for Nevada website instructs. “The signature gathering instructions, including contacts, will come with your petition. Thank you for your help! We need and appreciate you!”

Print-at-home petitions can be requested by visiting www.fightfornevada.com and clicking on the “petitions” link followed by the “get a petition” link. Requesters must provide their name, mailing address and the county in which they live, along with an email and a notation of the number of signatures they wish to have on their petition, 10, 15, 25, 50 or 100.

For more information visit www.fightfornevada.com or contact Zimmerman at recallsisolak@gmail.com

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com