LINCOLN - State Sen. Julie Slama says her proposals regarding Nebraska’s Electoral College votes and voter identification are common sense measures that would maximize the state’s impact on presidential elections and enhance the state’s already secure election process.

LB76 would repeal a 1991 law that lets the state divide its Electoral College votes.

Slama: “This was sold to Nebraskans in the early ‘90s, 1991, as being some sort of trend when it comes to presidential elections. Since we adopted the measure, a few years after Maine, no other state in the country has implemented this system.”

She said the division of votes minimizes Nebraska’s impact in the presidential election. Since Nebraska adopted the split vote, only two out of possible 24 Electoral College votes have been impacted. A Democratic presidential candidate has not won statewide since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

 

 

Slama: “For me this is just a common sense move in which we’re just joining 48 other states to where all Nebraskans can have a say in our five Electoral College votes, rather than our current system where Nebraska voters only get a say in a maximum of three of the five Electoral College votes that are state cast for president.”

 

The current system awards two votes to the statewide presidential winner and three by congressional district.

Slama also introduced LR3CA that would require photo identification for voters.

Slama: “Our Secretary of State’s Office, which has been very helpful in working with me on this bill, estimates that only 2 percent of Nebraska voters do not have a photo identification that would meet the requirements of this proposed constitutional amendment.”

She said the cost to get those Nebraskans a photo identification for voting purposes is estimated at $50,000. She said the cost is reasonable considering the extra layer of protection for elections.

Slama: “Nebraska is blessed to have some of the most secure elections in the country, but this is a common sense measure that again the overwhelming majority of the United States already has in place.”

She said there has been positive feedback and great discussion since she introduced the measures.