CARSON CITY - Conservative activist Sharron Angle wants Nevada voters to decide whether to abolish the state health insurance exchange and require photo identification at the polls. The Republican former assemblywoman and former U.S. Senate candidate filed two petitions last week with the Nevada Secretary of State. Proponents would need to gather more than 55,000 signatures from all over the state to get either measure on the 2016 ballot. Each would need to pass two consecutive elections to become a constitutional amendment. One proposes banning the exchange created as part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The other proposes requiring proof of identity before casting a vote, and requiring the government to issue ID cards to those without one.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada conservatives are disheartened that another attempt to pass a voter identification measure out of the legislature failed this session, even though the GOP has full control of the state government for the first time since 1929. Many expected Nevada to join the list of states that require people to show a government-issued ID in order to vote. Texas, where the GOP also is in control, passed a voter ID law in 2011, but is currently bogged down in litigation over its law's intent and impact. Republican legislators had tried to pass a Nevada voter ID bill in previous sessions, but had more muscle on their side this time, with majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval had previously said he would support a voter ID law, though he refused this year to take a stance before any proposal reached his desk. But, as the session closed June 1, bills in the Senate and Assembly hadn't gotten out of committee, leaving Democrats feeling gleeful and conservatives glum. The repeated defeat of voter ID bills in Nevada comes in contrast to states like North Carolina. A large package of voting rights restrictions, including a strict photo ID bill, was passed swiftly in that state in 2013 after Republicans gained control of both the governorship and legislature for the first time in more than 100 years. A challenge to that law will be heard in court next month.