Bills would require in-person voting, identification for Nebraskans
Nebraska state Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard speaks during legislative debate in Lincoln in 2019. Critics say bills he introduced Tuesday in the Nebraska Legislature are designed to make it harder to vote.
Steve Erdman
Nebraskans would no longer be able to cast early ballots and would have only a few options for voter identification under a pair of bills introduced in the Legislature on Tuesday.
One bill (LB228) would require in-person voting in primary and general elections, save for military personnel or nursing home residents, who would still be allowed to vote by mail. The bill would also require all votes be counted on Election Day, and would classify primary and general election days as state holidays.
Another bill (LB230) would implement a voter-approved constitutional amendment requiring valid photo IDs for voting. The bill spells out that only a Nebraska driver’s license, state identification card, photographic voter ID card, U.S. passport or tribal ID would be accepted for voting.
The bill would allow people to cast provisional ballots if they do not have an acceptable ID with them, with a requirement that they present ID within a week of Election Day. It also would require in-person voting and increase restrictions on who may serve as an election official. It would allow people to get a free photo ID for voting and a free copy of their birth certificate to get an ID for voting.
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State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard introduced both bills, which were among 73 introduced Tuesday. Although he wouldn’t say whether he believes Nebraska has an issue with voter fraud, he said there is enough suspicion surrounding it to warrant legislation.
“Even if there isn’t a problem, why wait until you have a problem to figure out what the solution may be?” Erdman said.
But Heather Engdahl, director of voting rights at Civic Nebraska, said the measures would severely limit voters and make the state’s elections among the most restrictive in the nation. She noted that early ballots especially have been popular, with more than 1.3 million Nebraskans voting early during the last two election cycles.
“Proposing a bill that would abolish a popular voting method can only be seen as an attempt to limit Nebraskans’ ability and opportunity to vote,” she said.
Rumors of widespread voter fraud have circulated in many states in recent years, particularly in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. However, no substantial evidence has come out to prove Nebraska’s elections have been impacted.
Erdman’s district includes Morrill County, which has held elections exclusively through mail-in voting in recent years. The county saw a 67% voter turnout in the 2022 midterm elections, which is significantly higher than the 54% turnout rate for the overall state.
However, Erdman said mail-in voting is problematic, because it is difficult to verify the legitimacy of those votes. He said decades ago, in-person voting was the only option most people had to vote.
Erdman’s bills will likely overlap with legislation from Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar to implement the voter ID ballot initiative that passed in November. Slama, who led the initiative, is expected to introduce a bill or bills on the subject, though she has yet to do so. Erdman said he would be willing to work with Slama to combine their proposals if there is overlap.
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