The Douglas County Board has unanimously voted to oppose a state lawmaker’s attempt to require stringent photo identification to vote in Nebraska elections. If passed, Legislative Bill 239 would require people to have valid state-issued photo identification to vote. At this week’s meeting, County Board member Mike Boyle cited the unknown costs of the bill, plus the adverse effect it would have on elderly voters and particularly Hispanics if it became law.
A valid state ID, under the proposed legislation, is one that is unexpired and provides a current address. State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduced the bill. Adam Morfeld, executive director of Nebraskans for Civic Reform, said the County Board’s bipartisan opposition should signal that Janssen’s bill is a costly attempt to solve a problem that does not exist.
“Sufficient voter education costs alone would cost Nebraska millions, and LB 239 will cost individual Nebraska counties thousands of dollars in additional training, printing costs and temporary workers to process increased provisional ballots and voter ID card verification efforts,” Morfeld said. The bill was held over and will likely be taken up during the first few weeks of the next regular session, which begins in January