Latest news with #LegislativeBill541
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Democracies need more voting, not less
A voting booth is set up on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Sower Church in Lincoln, Neb. (Sammy Smith/Nebraska News Service) Nebraska voters should be confident their Xs go where they are intended and are counted in the right pile. We know this from the state's previous elections being free and fair. Yet, despite the results and the facts and the accurate tabulation of votes, tinkerers remain — those who insist a sky full of hanging chads, '2,000 Mules' and bus loads of immigrants is falling. The hallmark of that body of nonbelievers (or true believers, whichever you prefer) is its lack of proof that elections in Nebraska — or anywhere else for that matter — are fraught with fraud when their candidate doesn't win. No amount of verification, substantiation or confirmation convinces them. No number of losing court cases deters them. Still, we have instances of new voter restrictions based on their beliefs. For example, without evidence, some argued the possibility of hordes of fraudulent voters would overrun our state system, leading to a new requirement of voter ID with photos. Fair enough. Although the new requirement created very few hitches in our electoral getalongs, as we've noted in this space before, if a photo ID requirement disenfranchised one voter, that's one voter too many. Apparently, Nebraska's outstanding and secure election systems still need tweaking if one believes the basis for Legislative Bill 541. If passed, LB 542 would erect further barriers to register and vote while also somehow denying the science and data on counting votes by hand, which finds hand counts less accurate than machines. The good news is that as of this writing the bill has yet to go anywhere. Nevertheless, its introduction alone is rooted in lies that the 2020 election was peppered with improprieties and, more damaging, calls into question the integrity of county election offices, local election officials and the Secretary of State's Office. Enough already. Into this miasmic mix now comes a presidential executive order unnecessarily injecting the federal government into elections. Its first section, 'Purpose and Policy,' relies on unproven assertions and outright conspiracy theories that the nation's ballot boxes are being sullied with the votes of the ineligible, especially non-citizens. Those numbers are infinitesimal if at all. Nevertheless, the order says as a country we have failed 'to enforce basic and necessary election protections.' Not according to the metrics we use to measure such things. The order came shortly after an unprecedented national security breach was uncovered, involving the administration, and the denial fiasco that followed, calling the timing into question. More problematic, however, is that the action seemed to move the federal government into a space previously reserved for states and local municipalities, countermanding or diluting their power to hold elections. That's a constitutionally bad look. In case the feds are asking, here's what it takes to register to vote in Nebraska: Be a United States citizen. Be at least 18 years of age on or before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Live in the State of Nebraska. Have not been convicted of a felony, or if convicted, have completed your sentence for the felony, including any parole term. Have not been officially found to be mentally incompetent. What remains to be seen is whether the order moves Nebraska or any other state to alter how it runs its elections, including the registration process, the actual voting, the processes used to tabulate the votes and the reporting of the results. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evenen recently spoke in favor of the order, if only to help election officials better identify who is a citizen. But executive orders come and go as presidents come and go. Not so acts of state legislatures and Congress, which write laws. In the 2024 general election, 156,302,318 of us showed up to vote. That was 63.9 percent of those eligible to vote. If you're keeping score at home, Wisconsin led the league with nearly 77 percent turnout, while in beautiful Hawaii only half of eligible voters marked their X. Nebraska was well-represented in the turnout sweepstakes with 73.9 percent. Its 934,188 was the second-most ballots ever cast in a state election. But before we thump our chests, remember that more than a quarter of the eligibles in Nebraska stayed home. Nationally the number was more than a third. Turnout here and across the country was historically high but did nothing to dispel the usual math that a good portion of eligible voters continue to disenfranchise themselves by failing to register or to vote. Which is why, rather than littering the voting process with hurdles and hoops and questionable executive orders, we should be spending more time, money and political capital on increasing the number of voters exercising their civic duty. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Keeping tabs on a work week's quintet
The Nebraska State Capitol. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner) In case anyone asks, here are five things I accomplished in the last week: I noted, with disappointment and a little disgust, the appearance in the Nebraska Legislature of yet another voter suppression bill offered in the guise of election integrity. This just in: Nebraska elections already have integrity. We'd be solving a problem that doesn't exist except in minds mired in fiction from 2020. Like previous attempts to disenfranchise, Legislative Bill 541 would construct barriers between Nebraskans' right to vote, including the elimination of online voter registration, new restrictions on absentee voting, more security for ballot boxes and a requirement for hand-counting of election results, which science shows is the least accurate way to tally votes. Nor was the violent and ironic juxtaposition lost on me. While the Unicameral's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony, the rest of the country marked the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when Alabama law enforcement officers beat and savaged marchers who were protesting — you guessed it — barriers to the ballot box. Sixty years and, apparently, still counting. I took to my knees in prayer for the swift end to several proposed laws in the Nebraska Legislature that would blur the lines between state and church. The lineup of proposals reads like something out of a catechism. LB 691 would make mandatory the display of Ten Commandments in public schools. LB 550 would require public schools to let students leave for part of the day for religious instruction. LB 549 would allow public schools to use volunteer 'chaplains,' individuals without professional educational licenses, in roles similar to counselors. And LB 122 would force districts to display 'In God We Trust' prominently in their schools. Chipping away at the very American principle of the separation of church and state does nothing to mend any shredding of our moral fiber, the reason many cite for offering such laws. Perhaps, instead, we should redouble our efforts to champion those who live virtuous, moral lives, especially among our leaders, to give students real-life guides. I seethed and shouted a couple times, too. First when the president called U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren 'Pocahontas' during his State of the Union and then later when Colorado U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Neb., said U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was using his 'pimp cane' to protest during the president's address. Green is Black. I seethed and shouted, because it's time we use our outdoor voices to push back against the dog whistlers and race baiters. I found it especially galling that in the recent push to extinguish DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion programs) and rewrite American history, none of Nebraska's congressional delegation has, as of this writing, said a word about such language or the thinking behind it. The House Ethics Committee is taking up Boebert's insult so Nebraska Republican U.S. Reps. Don Bacon, Adrian Smith and Mike Flood may have a chance to take a side. A Bacon Facebook post after the State of the Union argued the toothless 'both sides are to blame' for what was a decorum-free fest at times. He, Smith and Flood will get a chance to tell us where they stand when they vote on the resolution to censure Boebert. Green has already been censured after he was removed from the chamber at the request of Speaker Mike Johnson. But wait, more irony: Any accounting of recent political give and take reveals a diverse, equitable and inclusive roster of ill-mannered outbursts … DEI for bad behavior if you will. I sold my Tesla and deleted my Twitter (X) account. Actually I did this a couple months ago but spent much of last week still feeling quite good about it. I viewed, with the appropriate derision, Nebraska's latest attempt to change how it determines Electoral College votes. The NINO (Non-partisan in name only) Nebraska Legislature will be debating whether to adopt a winner-take-all system in presidential elections. As the entire free world knows, only Nebraska and Maine can split their Electoral College votes. That's been the law for the past nine presidential elections, and in 2008, 2020 and 2024, we indeed split electors when the Democratic candidate won the 2nd District in Omaha, creating Nebraska's 'Blue Dot.' Now, as Republicans could have enough votes in the NINO Legislature, they — at the urging of Gov. Jim Pillen — believe this is the session in which the GOP will deliver the goods. Never mind winning on the merits of arguments and ideas. Winner-take-all is not about arguments or ideas. It simply changes the rules. That's my five: I noted, prayed, seethed and shouted, sold and deleted, and viewed. That was surely enough to keep my job. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nebraska lawmaker pushes to overhaul elections, early voting over integrity concerns
Teresa Ranken, 59, of Lincoln, hangs up signs reminding voters of acceptable forms of identification cards needed for voting on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at Sower Church in Lincoln, Neb. (Sammy Smith/Nebraska News Service) LINCOLN — State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue says he wants to eliminate online voter registration, restrict absentee voting, provide more security for ballot boxes and require hand-counting of election results, citing election integrity concerns. State and local election officials testified against Holdcroft's Legislative Bill 541 during its public hearing Wednesday before the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, questioning the need for changes to election law and raising concerns about possibly violating federal law and the potential costs to taxpayers. Other bill opponents said the changes would introduce unnecessary burdens to voters and make it harder for Nebraskans to participate in elections. Holdcroft said while he has confidence in the integrity of Nebraska elections, the bill is 'simply to give peace of mind to the electorate and our state regarding the security of our elections.' Supporters of the bill claim it would prevent voter fraud and 'cheating' in state elections, pointing to the 2020 election, when President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory but lost to former President Joe Biden. The Nebraska proposal is being discussed as Republicans across the country ramped up unproven claims of non-citizen voting and fraud. Deputy Nebraska Secretary of State Wayne Bena, who oversees the state's Elections Division, said state elections officials appreciated Holdcroft's interest in election integrity. He said Secretary of State Robert Evnen agrees with some provisions of LB 541, such as tightening security around ballot boxes, but said Evnen has practical concerns about hand counting and legal concerns about voter registration changes. '[Hand] counting, which is statistically the least reliable way that you can count ballots, add significant times and add significant cost to conducting an election,' Bena said. Tracy Overstreet, Hall County Election Commissioner, said during the hearing that the proposed changes would require her to hire more staff and violate the federal National Voting Rights Act because of the way the bill would restrict voter registration by mail. According to the bill's fiscal note, the changes Holdcroft seeks would cost the state nearly $1 million when Nebraska is facing a significant budget shortfall. Danna Seevers, who testified in support of the bill, said the committee 'should act to honor the will of the people who overwhelmingly elected Donald Trump in 2024 and carry out his agenda,' adding that LB 541 delivers on that with 'surgical precision.' Trump met with state governors late last month, including Gov. Jim Pillen, and urged them to modify their voting laws to implement paper ballots, one-day voting, voter ID and proof of citizenship. However, Most states, including Nebraska, already have voter ID laws and utilize paper ballots, often as backups, and only U.S. citizens are legally allowed to vote in federal elections. 'This isn't just a bill,' Seevers said. 'It's a battle cry for election integrity that echoes Trump's call to action.' Voting advocacy groups said the bill would place unnecessary burdens on voters. 'By restricting early voting to a handful of the scenarios, voting in Nebraska will become more challenging and less convenient,' said Cesar Garcia, a Nebraska Appleseed's Community Organizer. 'As a consequence, our state will likely see lower voter turnout.' Nebraskans passed a state constitutional amendment in 2022 requiring the Legislature to implement voter ID in Nebraska. Fewer voters were turned away under the law than in other states with similar laws. The committee took no immediate action on the bill. Bena said the Secretary of State and the county election commissioners would implement the Holdcroft bill if the Legislature passes it. 'However, if you're asking our office [if] such a law is justified?' Bena said. 'The answer is no.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
