Latest news with #LegislativeBill521
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Effort to let largest Nebraska cities consolidate elections will include Lincoln
Nine of the 10 Lincoln and Lancaster County state lawmakers joined a town hall at Union College on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, in Lincoln. Back row, from left, are State Sens. Beau Ballard, Carolyn Bosn, Eliot Bostar, Myron Dorn, George Dungan and Lincoln Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Jason Ball. Front row, from left, are State Sens. Jane Raybould, Anna Wishart, Danielle Conrad and Tom Brandt. Not pictured: Sen. Rob Clements. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Lawmakers rejected a last-minute amendment Thursday to keep Lincoln city elections in off years, rather than allowing city officials to tie them to statewide elections. The amendment, from State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, came after concerns from some Lincoln city officials that the amended Legislative Bill 521 could cause problems for the capital city. The original bill from State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha would have allowed just Omaha to move its elections, but when the proposal was amended and attached to LB 521, it added Lincoln. The amendment to remove Lincoln from the bill failed 16-30. A reconsideration motion failed 18-26. The broader bill advanced by voice vote to the third and final round of debate. Century-old state laws dictate the election timing for cities the size of Omaha (metropolitan class, 400,000 or more residents) and Lincoln (primary class, 100,001 to 399,999 residents). Omaha and Lincoln city officials can already advance changes to their city charter to move election timing, but without a law such as LB 521, the changes could not be carried out. Dungan, who said he just started talking with Lincoln officials shortly before the debate on Thursday, said Lincoln's city charter is 'significantly different' than other cities, such as Omaha. He argued LB 521 didn't necessarily contemplate what to do with elections for Lincoln Airport Authority or Lincoln Public Schools board members. 'I would encourage my colleagues who are not from Lincoln to maybe just defer at this point,' Dungan said. State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln asked Cavanaugh if he 'would agree that what's good for the Omaha elections to be on some sort of consistent patterns … that same logic would apply uniformly then in other areas.' Cavanaugh responded that he would like to see the elections moved but that he would support Dungan's motion. Cavanaugh has said the back-to-back elections can lead to voter fatigue. Changing the elections could save about $500,000 for Lincoln and more than $1 million in Omaha. State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, a former member of the Lincoln City Council and Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, said she would have preferred a separate hearing and proposal related to Lincoln, with more local input. In odd-numbered years, Omaha primary elections are the first Tuesday of April, while general elections are the first Tuesday after the second Monday in May. Omaha city elections are every four years, the year after presidential elections. For Lincoln, the general election is the first Tuesday in May, and the primary election is four weeks prior, every other year. Omaha's general mayoral election is this Tuesday. Lincoln held its general election this week; its mayor is not on the ballot until 2027. Of the nine senators who represent parts of Lincoln, the vote fell along party lines. Democratic State Sens. Eliot Bostar, Danielle Conrad, Dungan, Jason Prokop and Raybould, all of Lincoln, supported the carve out. Republican State Sens. Beau Ballard of Lincoln, Bosn, Rob Clements of Elmwood and Myron Dorn of Adams opposed it. 2025 city elections Omaha primary (April 1): 25.69%. Omaha general (May 13): (To be determined). Lincoln primary (April 8): 24.53%. Lincoln general (May 6): 22.40% (nearly 8,000 early vote ballots, about 4% turnout, will be counted later this week). 2024 statewide elections Omaha primary (May 14): 26.79%. Omaha general (Nov. 5): 75.37%. Lincoln primary (May 14): 15.40%. Lincoln general (Nov. 5): 78.02%. 2023 city elections Omaha primary: (N/A) Omaha general: (N/A) Lincoln primary (April 7): 33.38%. Lincoln general (May 2): 46.22%. 2022 statewide elections Omaha primary (May 10): 31.74%. Omaha general (Nov. 8): 53.92%. Lincoln primary (May 10): 33.6%. Lincoln general (Nov. 8): 57.57%. 2021 city elections Omaha primary (April 6): 28.50%. Omaha general (May 11): 32.74%. Lincoln primary (April 6): 24.86%. Lincoln general (May 4): 29.34%.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to match Lincoln, Omaha elections with Nebraska elections advances
Five candidates for Omaha mayor prepare for a debate in the city's mayoral primary at the Omaha Press Club. Shown, left to right, are Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, former State Sen. Mike McDonnell, Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing, nonprofit executive Jasmine Harris and community advocate Terry Brewer. March 11, 2025. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Lincoln and Omaha city officials would have the future option to move city elections and line them up with Nebraska statewide elections, under this year's annual election cleanup bill. Legislative Bill 521, from State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue, advanced 42-0 on Thursday. Sanders, who chairs the Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, said the goal is 'modernizing' elections. 'This bill represents a significant investment in the integrity and efficiency of our electoral system,' Sanders said during debate. LB 521 would make a series of changes, including to allow hospice or disability services patient records to count as a photo voter ID, stop petition signature verification of candidates or new political parties at 110% of the goal (similar to ballot measures), notify a voter if their voter registration is canceled, prohibit petition circulation within 200 feet of ballot drop boxes and permit the secretary of state to distribute petition pages to counties 'by a secure method,' rather than just mail or by law enforcement. Four other bills were amended into LB 521, by a 41-0 vote. They would: Allow Lincoln or Omaha to move odd-year city elections in April and May to instead be in line with statewide primary and general elections (LB 19 from State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha). Exempt local foster care review boards from the Open Meetings Act (LB 238 from State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha). Address situations where a public meeting notice has been sent to a newspaper but can't be published on a proper timeline, and address what happens if a public notice can't be posted online (LB 243 from Sanders). Allow political parties to appoint watchers to monitor county election officials' mandatory three independent tests of vote-counting devices. The results of the tests would later be published online (LB 659 from State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County). Andersen said his vote-counting reforms 'reflect a commitment to election integrity and ensuring Nebraskans have confidence in the accuracy and security of our vote counting.' LB 521 no longer includes a provision that could have allowed the secretary of state to use software, including artificial intelligence, to assist in processing a filed petition. Sen. John Cavanaugh's LB 19 is different from his introduced version, which would have required Omaha to move its off-year elections beginning in 2028. Under his amended bill, Omaha as well as Lincoln officials would have the option of putting a city charter amendment to a vote of residents to change the election timing. The bill would not affect 2025 elections. In odd-numbered years, Omaha primary elections are the first Tuesday of April, while general elections are the first Tuesday after the second Monday in May. For Lincoln, the general election is the first Tuesday in May, and the primary election is four weeks prior. State law dictates the election timing for cities of the primary class (100,001 to 399,999 residents) and metropolitan size (400,000 or more residents). This year, Omaha will have its general mayoral election May 13. Lincoln will have its city election May 6, but the mayor is not on the ballot until 2027. Any city that changes to be in line with statewide election timing could change the point at which terms in office end, according to Cavanaugh. If not, and if, say, one of the cities had an election in November 2028, it could lead to a lame-duck public official for six months. Today, city terms in office start about four weeks after an election. Cavanaugh said LB 19 would save property tax dollars, such as the $1.5 million Omaha is spending on this off-year election cycle, which he said would probably be a little less for Lincoln. He said it also would help with voter fatigue after sometimes 'grueling' statewide elections. LB 521, a Government Committee priority for the year, faces up to two more rounds of debate. City elections in Lincoln and Omaha are in odd-numbered years under existing state law, in contrast to the hundreds of other municipal elections statewide. Under Legislative Bill 521, as amended, officials would have the option to move city elections to even-numbered years. Terms of office begin in 2025 Current law: Elected May 2025. Term in office June 2025 to June 2029. Next election April/May 2029. City charter amendment is adopted (before 2028): Elected May 2025. Term in office June 2025 to June 2029, or sooner. Next election May/November 2028. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
