Nevada Secretary of State teaches Carson High seniors a lesson

More than 500 Carson High School seniors packed the bleachers on the big gym’s south end Thursday afternoon to welcome the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office to campus for the coolest civics lesson ever.

And who better to lead class than Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske and her staff, including Chief Deputy Scott Anderson, Elections Deputy Wayne Thorley, and Executive Assistant Jennifer Russell.

Together they gave the 2017 CHS senior class a crash course on the duties of the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office and the state elections process.

Cegavske, a first-term secretary of state, was elected in 2014 following a combined 16 years in the state legislature.

She was first elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 1996, representing District 5 in Clark County. Six years later, Cegavske was elected to the state senate in District 8 for which she served three full terms.

Cegavske told the Carson High School seniors that her first experience in government occurred while she was active in the local Parent-Teacher Association for her children.

“Myself and a group of other parents in Clark County had become very dismayed over the lack of money being spent and given to the teachers in the classroom,” she said. “I knew how much we were giving in taxes, and I wanted to know why.”

Cegavske told the CHS seniors that she and a group of school district parents came together to find the answers. Unfortunately, she said, what they found were more questions along the way.

“We went before the Clark County School Board Trustees and they told us it wasn’t their fault, it was the state legislature’s fault,” Cegavske said. “So we took a bus to Carson City and went to our state legislators. They told us that it wasn’t their fault, it was the federal government’s fault, because they give us so many mandates. We have to have matching funds and we don’t have enough money to go around.”

At that point, there was only one place left to go, Cegavske explained to the crowd of CHS seniors.

“We went to Washington, D.C., and the elected officials there told us that it was the responsibility of the state and the individual school districts to take the money they had and distribute it to where they thought the most need was,” she said. “You can imagine how frustrating it was to go all around the country trying to get answers to our questions.”

Finally, Cegavske said she decided to run for public office on the advice of her husband.

“My husband told me to stop complaining and do something,” she said. “That’s when I ran for the Assembly, and was very honored to go out and talk to people door to door and find out what the issues were.”

Cegavske talked to CHS seniors about the importance of becoming involved and invested in their communities, by donating and volunteering their time.

Public service, she said, begins with civic involvement.

“Each and every one of you should be volunteering at something,” she said. “It doesn’t matter whether you are on a campaign or if you are volunteering at your local veterinarian’s office. Anything you find that will help you engage in your community.”

Cegavske referred to community volunteering as civic engagement, describing the act as a means of paying forward what has been given by others.

“It’s very important that you give of your time,” she said. “That civic engagement is a payback, because other people have given to you and done stuff for you. You need to give back, too.”

Chief Deputy Scott Anderson explained to students the five divisions that make up the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office — Commercial Recordings, Elections, Notary, Operations and Securities — describing the Constitutional duties of each.

Elections Deputy Wayne Thorley went into detail about the office’s elections division, by far its largest and most significant.

Cegavske said elections — eight divisions strong — comprises most of the business of the office, and is particularly important right now with a major general election looming.

“It’s the biggest thing going on right now,” she said.

Thorley told students the four criteria for voter registration in Nevada.

The first is a minimum age of 18.

“Those of you who are 17 right now, but will turn 18 by Nov. 8, you can register to vote,” he said.

Second is a minimum 30-day residency in the state of Nevada, he said, followed by U.S. citizenship and, finally, be felony-free.

He informed students that the deadline for voter registration in the upcoming Nov. 8 Super Tuesday General Election is Oct. 8, and that registration can be completed online through the Nevada Secretary of State’s web site.

Cegavske advised students to do their homework on candidates and the issues before they cast their votes.

“In politics there’s two sides to every story, and you need to listen,” she said. “You need to know what it is that’s affecting everybody. You’re the one who needs to listen to both sides. Once you listen to both sides, then you can make a judgment based on what’s going on.”

Cegavske told students to be wary about what they hear second-hand, and to stay focused on things that really matter to them.

“The issues aren’t really what the media says,” she said. “The issues are within your home, what you and your parents talk about. And what you are told are the most important issues aren’t necessarily the most important issues to you where you live.”

Cegavske expressed to CHS seniors how pleased she was to be leading Thursday afternoon’s civics lesson, because it brings her full circle with her political career.

“One of the things that has been really exciting for me being elected as Secretary of State is that I still have the opportunity to be involved in civics engagement and civics education,” she said, “because education is why I started in the first place.”