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.
The bill would erase Nebraska’s current system of awarding three of its five presidential electoral votes to the victor in each of the state’s congressional districts while allocating the remaining two votes to the statewide winner.
Sen. Beau McCoy of Omaha, the bill’s sponsor, said Nebraska should join 48 other states who award all of their presidential electoral votes to the statewide winner. Only Nebraska and Maine allocate some votes by congressional districts.
Full Article: Winner-take-all voting bill faces test in Legislature.