Nebraska: Plan sought to update Nebraska’s election equipment; prospect of statewide all-mail voting raised | Omaha World Herald

The Legislature needs a plan in place to update aging election equipment, though many decisions will hinge on whether leaders pursue statewide all-mail voting, lawmakers were told Monday. Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse told the Legislature’s Special Election Technology Committee that two of his county’s nine vote-counting machines weren’t operating properly on Nov. 8, contributing to some numbers not being available until 5:30 the next morning. But he cautioned against replacing the machines until decisions are made about whether the state should switch to voting only by mail, an option he said he believes has support among the Douglas County Board. “Some of (the board members) have brought it up to me,” he said.

Nebraska: Counties say Nebraska voting equipment is becoming outdated | Associated Press

Nebraska’s voting equipment is becoming outdated and needs to be replaced to ensure elections run smoothly, county officials and advocates said Monday. Election commissioners from Douglas, Sarpy, Lancaster and Hall counties raised the concern in a legislative hearing but told lawmakers they’re waiting until Nebraska officials decide whether to switch to statewide mail-in voting. Nebraska’s election system faces challenges because many of the state’s smallest counties can’t afford the technology upgrades. Some county voting machines rely on antiquated technology, such as 1990s-era Zip drives, to help tabulate votes. Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse said one of the machines in his office stopped working on election night 2016, and others experienced problems. Kruse said his county’s commissioners generally support a switch to statewide mail-in voting, which would reduce costs and save storage space that’s required for precinct voting machines.

Nebraska: Gale says Nebraska election safe and secure | Lincoln Journal Star

Secretary of State John Gale assured Nebraskans on Wednesday that the state’s election system is “very safe and secure” from outside manipulation. “I believe we have taken every step that is appropriate at this point to ensure that all aspects of the election system are protected at the highest level possible,” Gale said in a statement issued from his office. Gale’s assurance comes on the heels of attempted hacking of various election sites around the country as well as the breach at the Democratic National Committee that has resulted in the public release of private communications. U.S. intelligence officials have pointed the finger at Russia in identifying attempts to interfere in the U.S. election process.

Nebraska: Nearly half of Nebraska county election officials may be denying voting rights | Lincoln Journal Star

Only about half of Nebraska’s 93 counties accurately provide voting rights for ex-felons, according to a survey by the ACLU of Nebraska. Nearly half of the county election officials contacted by ACLU researchers provided inaccurate information related to voting rights for people with felony convictions, the organization said. State law allows a convicted felon to register to vote two years after completing all of the terms of a sentence, which include parole and probation. “Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and the fundamental right upon which all our civil liberties rest,” ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad said in a news release Monday. “Nebraskans that have completed their sentences have a right to participate in our democracy.” The Legislature restored the voting rights for people with felony convictions more than 10 years ago, she said. “But sadly today a significant amount of confusion still exists. These survey results are a call to action.”

Nebraska: Secretary of state questions ACLU survey | Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska’s secretary of state is challenging the conclusions of an ACLU of Nebraska survey that questioned county election officials’ knowledge of voting rights for former felons. Secretary of State John Gale said the question asked in the survey done by volunteers might not have been consistent across all counties. None of the eight counties contacted by his office Tuesday could remember getting a phone call in the past month from someone from ACLU of Nebraska, he said. But Tyler Richard, spokesman for the ACLU, said the volunteers did not identify themselves as calling for the ACLU. And they asked a standardized question to all counties: “Can a former felon register to vote?”

Nebraska: Secretary of State questions ACLU survey on felon voting rights, follows up with counties | Omaha World Herald

Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale took issue Tuesday with an ACLU survey that reportedly found half of the state’s county election officials gave wrong answers when asked about felons’ voting eligibility. ACLU of Nebraska said Monday that 47 of 93 county officials answered incorrectly when asked by phone: “Can a former felon register to vote?” In Nebraska, someone with a felony conviction can register to vote two years after completing all terms of a sentence.

Nebraska: Murante won’t contest redistricting reform veto | Lincoln Journal Star

Sen. John Murante of Gretna has decided not to attempt to override Gov. Pete Ricketts’ veto of a redistricting reform bill that was negotiated for more than two years with Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha. Responding to the governor’s stated constitutional concerns about the proposal, Murante said: “Redistricting is too important. We must get it right. “The good news,” he said, “is that we have time to do so.” Redistricting would not occur again until 2021 following the 2020 U.S. census. Ricketts questioned the constitutionality of the bill (LB580) in his veto announcement on Monday and suggested that it would, in fact, inject more partisan politics into the process rather than achieve the desired result of distancing redistricting from partisan political pressures.

Nebraska: ‘Unconstitutional, unelected and unaccountable’: Ricketts vetoes bill to revamp how political maps are drawn | Omaha World-Herald

Gov. Pete Ricketts on Monday vetoed a bill that would create an independent commission of citizens to redraw the state’s political maps. In a letter to lawmakers, Ricketts called Legislative Bill 580 a major policy shift that’s unconstitutional because elected lawmakers, not members of a commission, are required to redistrict every 10 years. He argued that the commission could amount to a “hyper-partisan” body composed of former political party activists and elected officials. “At stake are the voting rights of all Nebraskans,” Ricketts said.

Nebraska: Ricketts vetoes redistricting reform | Lincoln Journal Star

Gov. Pete Ricketts on Monday vetoed redistricting reform legislation designed to distance state senators from the politically volatile process of drawing new congressional and legislative districts following each U.S. census. His veto sets the stage for a day of confrontation in the Legislature on Wednesday, its 60th and final day in session this year. Already on the agenda is a motion to override the governor’s veto of a bill (LB947) to allow young undocumented immigrants who have been granted lawful presence in the United States to acquire professional and commercial licenses to work in Nebraska. In advance of that battle, the Lincoln, Greater Omaha and Nebraska chambers of commerce urged state senators to override Ricketts’ veto, arguing that the bill “makes economic sense … at a time when Nebraska is working hard to attract more skilled, educated workers.”

Nebraska: Winner-take-all electoral vote fails | Lincoln Journal Star

A proposal to dump Nebraska’s distinctive presidential electoral system and establish a statewide winner-take-all vote was trapped Tuesday by a filibuster and buried by the Legislature. A motion to invoke cloture and bring an end to legislative debate fell one senator short of the 33 votes required to proceed with the bill, failing on a 32-17 count. Sens. Tommy Garrett of Bellevue and Bob Krist of Omaha switched from their support for a cloture motion a week ago that had allowed the bill (LB10) to proceed to a final vote this week. The result is that Nebraska will continue to allocate its five electoral votes by awarding one to the winner in each of the three congressional districts and two to the statewide victor.

Nebraska: Citizens, not legislators, will redraw lines under redistricting bill heading to governor | Nebraska Radio Network

A special citizens’ commission will draw political boundaries after the census under a bill passing the Unicameral. LB 580 had to overcome a filibuster before passing on final reading on a 29-to-15 vote with four senators abstaining. Opponents say the change is not needed, that the Unicameral is charged with redrawing lines after the U.S. Census takes its official count every 10 years. They further claim efforts to rid the process of politics are futile.

Nebraska: Legislature approves redistricting reform plan | Lincoln Journal Star

Redistricting reform legislation designed to distance state senators from drawing politically charged congressional and legislative district maps jumped a last-ditch filibuster Wednesday and was enacted on a 29-15 vote. The bill (LB580) goes on to Gov. Pete Ricketts for his consideration and appears to face an uncertain fate. Several members of the Legislature privately confided that some of their colleagues were receiving text messages from the governor’s office expressing opposition to some of the bill’s provisions during Wednesday’s debate. Ricketts declined to express any opinion about the bill during a recent news conference.

Nebraska: State inches closer to ‘winner-take-all’ | Associated Press

Nebraska Republicans cleared a major hurdle Monday in their efforts to reinstate a winner-take-all system in presidential elections, a move that would wipe out any chance of the state splitting its electoral votes as it did for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008. Lawmakers voted 32-15 to advance a bill that would end Nebraska’s practice of awarding its votes by congressional district. Nebraska and Maine are the only states where it’s possible to split electoral votes between opposing presidential candidates. Two of Nebraska’s electoral votes are awarded to the statewide winner, while the remaining three are distributed by congressional district. The proposal now headed to a final vote in the Legislature would require Nebraska to award all of its electoral votes in presidential elections to the winner of the state’s popular vote. Last year, supporters fell two votes short of the 33 needed to force an end to legislative debate on the measure. The state split its electoral votes for the first time in 2008, when Obama captured one from the 2nd congressional district in Omaha on his way to the presidency.

Nebraska: Ballot-counting machine purchased for Gage County | Beatrice Daily Sun

Votes cast in Gage County for the 2016 elections will be processed through a new machine aimed to tally more quickly and with fewer issues. The County Board voted unanimously to purchase a DS850 machine from Omaha-based Election Systems and Software (ES and S) during its Wednesday meeting. Dawn Hill, County Clerk and Election Commissioner, said the current machine, a 650 model, is prone to several issues, adding hours to the counting process on election night. “The machine that we currently have now, I did confirm with ES and S and that was manufactured in 1996,” Hill said. “We have issues with slow ballots, jamming, it stops. It does read correct — I want to make sure everyone knows we do not have a problem with reading the ballots and totaling the votes. We do have an audit performed.”

Nebraska: In a twist, GOP-led Nebraska may give up redistricting power | Associated Press

In 2008, for the first time in 44 years, red-state Nebraska awarded one of its Electoral College votes to the Democratic presidential candidate, and aghast Republican Party leaders decided they wouldn’t let it happen again. They redrew the state’s political lines so the congressional district that favored Barack Obama and included the state’s largest black community would take in more Republican voters. Then they pushed the change through the Legislature despite Democrats’ complaints. The doctoring worked: When Obama ran for re-election, the new district went to Republican Mitt Romney by a comfortable margin. In most states, that would be the end of the story — a naked but predictable case of gerrymandering for political advantage. But in Nebraska, a state with a different slant on partisanship, the episode didn’t sit well.

Nebraska: Redistricting reform heads to legislative floor | Journal Star

Compromise legislation to distance state senators from congressional and legislative redistricting decisions cleared the Legislature’s Executive Board Tuesday and was advanced to the floor for debate. The bill (LB580) creates an independent citizens commission to craft new districts that provide relative population parity following the 2020 census. The proposal is the product of almost two years of discussion and compromise by Sen. John Murante of Gretna, a Republican, and Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, a Democrat. Under it, proposed redistricting plans would be submitted to the Legislature in 2021 for approval or disapproval. If a redistricting proposal were rejected by the Legislature, the commission would meet again to submit a revised plan. “That ensures that the Legislature and its staff would never be drawing the maps” that ultimately created the new districts, Mello said.

Nebraska: New redistricting plan relies on citizens commission | Lincoln Journal Star

Sens. John Murante and Heath Mello have reached substantial agreement on a congressional and legislative redistricting proposal designed to distance state senators from the partisanship that tends to shape those decisions. Their proposal, agreed to after almost two years of give-and-take discussions, would create a nine-member citizens commission that would recommend redistricting plans to the nonpartisan Legislature after at least four public hearings throughout the state. The process would begin with base maps submitted to the commission by the legislative research office and end with legislative approval or disapproval of the plans recommended by the commission. However, in separate interviews with the two senators, it appeared that they might not be on the same page yet on one essential ingredient of the plan.

Nebraska: Ballot selfies opposed by secretary of state | Licoln Journal Star

Sen. Adam Morfeld’s proposal to allow voters to take selfie photos at their voting precincts that display their ballots and how they voted and show the photos on social media bumped into opposition Thursday from the secretary of state’s office. Deputy Secretary of State Neal Erickson told the Legislature’s Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee that it would be “bad public policy” to share photos online that “may well influence how others vote” and cautioned that the practice “could be used by partisan activists.” The broader concern is “preventing fraud at the voting booth,” Erickson said. In response, both Morfeld, a Lincoln senator, and Committee Chairman John Murante of Gretna said people have a constitutional right to express themselves and to attempt to influence how others may vote. “It’s no different than orally encouraging people to vote for candidates you support,” Morfeld said. “Freedom of expression is a protected fundamental constitutional right.”

Nebraska: Legislature weighs future of state’s election technology | StateScoop

With most of Nebraska’s election technology now roughly a decade old, its Legislature is considering a pair of bills that would help chart the future of voting in the state. Secretary of State John Gale coordinated with state Sen. Tommy Garrett to introduce a bill last week that would convene a task force to spend 2017 studying the state’s voting technology, and investigate whether a move to all-mail or online voting would be feasible in the next few years. Meanwhile, state Sen. Matt Hansen introduced a measure earlier this month to convene a legislative committee to conduct a similar study over the next few months. Neither of the measures would result in immediate changes, but Gale told StateScoop that both bills represent meaningful first steps for the state. “We really don’t have a crisis at this point, but it’s timely to start thinking ahead,” Gale said.

Nebraska: Senator eyes aging election technology challenge | Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska needs to confront what may be a $20 million challenge in replacing its rapidly aging electronic election technology, Sen. Matt Hansen of Lincoln believes. Hansen introduced a legislative resolution (LR403) Tuesday to create an election technology commission to study the feasibility and cost of replacing election equipment throughout the state, including machines used by disabled voters and to count votes. “The machines may last another cycle or two, but it’s time to think about their replacements,” Hansen said. “We’re in uncharted waters,” he said. “The purpose of this resolution is to find a solution to the $20 million question: Who is going to purchase new machines?”

Nebraska: Lawmaker: Engage youth voters by legalizing ‘ballot selfies’ | Omaha World Herald

Nikola Jordan for years has snapped a “ballot selfie” at the polling place and posted it on social media. Even before advanced smartphones and Facebook’s popularity, she’d take a handheld camera into the polling place and pose with her ballot. “I think voting is really exciting and being part of the democratic process is really exciting,” the 32-year-old Omaha woman said. Current state law, however, prohibits sharing a picture of a completed ballot with other people, which could include posting such a photo on Facebook or Instagram. A measure introduced Thursday in the State Legislature would protect ballot selfies by allowing a voter to photograph and share his or her ballot.

Nebraska: Seven Nebraska counties, one Iowa county accused of violating voter registration law | Omaha World-Herald

Seven counties in Nebraska and one in Iowa are being threatened with lawsuits over having more registered voters than voting-age residents. Two national groups say the numbers are evidence that county officials are not cleaning up voter registration rolls, as federal law requires. The Public Interest Legal Foundation, based in Plainfield, Indiana, and True the Vote, based in Houston, have both sent letters alerting county officials to the alleged violations. The letters said that poorly maintained voter rolls threaten the integrity of elections. “Corrupted voter rolls provide the perfect environment for voter fraud,” said J. Christian Adams, the legal foundation’s president and general counsel. But state and county officials said data quirks and requirements of federal election laws, not mismanagement or incompetence, account for the apparent discrepancies. They also say that they are complying with requirements concerning removing voters who have moved or died. Loup County Clerk Debbie Postany, one of the officials who received letters, emphatically denied any laxity in maintaining voter lists. “Before you send letters accusing hard-working, dedicated and often underpaid public officials of not doing their jobs, perhaps you should be aware of ALL the facts,” she wrote in a reply letter.

Nebraska: State to launch new online voter registration service | Associated Press

Nebraska residents who are eligible to vote will be able to register and update their registrations online under a new system that Secretary of State John Gale plans to launch this week. The secretary of state’s office will unveil the new project website Tuesday as part of National Voter Registration Day, said spokeswoman Laura Strimple. Gale has said the new system will mark one of the biggest technological advancements in voter registration in years. It also has been shown to boost voter registrations in other states that adopted the technology. “Online voter registration is really the tip of the spear when it comes to modernizing our election system in Nebraska,” said state Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, the executive director of the voting-rights group Nebraskans for Civic Reform. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but this is a great first step.”

Nebraska: Online voter registration begins this month | Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska will implement a new system of online voter registration this month, easing the registration process and opening the door to larger voter turnout. “We hope to improve registration and turnout,” Secretary of State John Gale said in announcing a rollout scheduled for Sept. 22. Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln, founder and executive director of Nebraskans for Civic Reform, said the new system implements a modern registration process his organization has been urging the state to adopt since 2008.

Nebraska: Citing voter concerns over mail-in ballots, Nebraska lawmaker calls for ‘secrecy sleeve’ | Omaha World Herald

Paul Schumacher hears it all the time: More and more voters in Nebraska are worried about the secrecy of their ballots in the age of mail-in elections. The angst is especially acute in small towns, where everybody knows everybody, and some voters worry that an election worker will sneak a peek at their ballot and realize they didn’t vote for their crazy brother-in-law. “I have some people who are just outraged by the fact that they know, or think they know, their ballots are being viewed,” said Schumacher, a Republican state senator from Columbus. “In a small community, they worry that someone can see that they didn’t vote for their relative or they voted for someone in another party.”

Nebraska: Counties get grants for disability election equipment costs | Associated Press

The Nebraska Secretary of State has announced that 48 county election offices will receive reimbursements totaling nearly $50,000 to help cover costs associated with the use of voter disability equipment during the 2014 general election. The money is provided to the Secretary of State’s office through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.

Nebraska: Winner-take-all bill blocked and likely done for the year | Lincoln Journal Star

The legislative proposal to return Nebraska to a winner-take-all presidential electoral vote system was trapped Tuesday by a successful filibuster and essentially blocked from further consideration this session. A motion to break the filibuster fell two senators short of acquiring the 33 votes required to break the filibuster, failing on a 31-18 vote. Four senators who are Republicans joined all 13 senators who are Democrats and Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the sole registered independent, in voting against the cloture vote to end debate.

Nebraska: Winner-take-all in trouble | Lincoln Journal-Star

Legislation to return to a winner-take-all presidential electoral vote system in Nebraska appeared Monday to be on life support. In a carefully crafted floor speech, Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete expressed strong support for retention of the current system that awards three of Nebraska’s five electoral votes to the winner in each of the state’s congressional districts. Although she said she “might get drummed out of the Republican Party” for stating her position, Ebke argued that Nebraska’s current system is more in line with what the framers of the U.S. Constitution expected and, in her opinion, “the right way of doing this.”

Nebraska: Winner-take-all voting bill faces test in Legislature | Lincoln Journal Star

The bill to move Nebraska to a winner-take-all presidential electoral vote system easily survived an assault on Tuesday, but still may not be able to shake loose from the grip of a legislative filibuster. A motion by Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha to shelve the bill (LB10) for the remainder of the session was rejected on a 12-30 vote. A subsequent vote to reconsider that action lost on a 15-29 vote. The 15-vote count moved opponents of the bill within two votes of the magic number required to assure a filibuster can be sustained. And a look at the five senators who were either absent or not voting suggested the 17 votes may be there when required.

Nebraska: Voter ID legislation abruptly stops despite anticipation for long, heated debate | Associated Press

Efforts to require Nebraska voters to show identification at the polls came to an abrupt halt Wednesday, less than 24 hours after lawmakers began what many expected to be a long, heated debate. Lawmakers voted 25-15 to push the measure to the bottom of the 2015 agenda, meaning it has little chance of returning this year. The move came after numerous amendments were added to the bill, which has faced heavy resistance from lawmakers and civil rights activists who say it would disenfranchise poor and minority voters. Opponents also note that Nebraska has no documented cases of voter fraud. Sen. John Murante of Gretna, one of the bill’s supporters and chairman of the government committee, asked his fellow senators not to “prolong the pain” by sending it back to the committee for reconsideration. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill, said the measure was intended to protect the state from voter fraud and included safeguards, such as offering free IDs to poor residents, to prevent disenfranchising voters. But opponents noted that ID cards were costly and didn’t fully protect against fraudulent voting.