NEBRASKA CITY – Gov. Pete Ricketts was joined by State Sens. Rob Clements and Lou Linehan in Nebraska City Thursday morning in support of the voter ID ballot initiative.

Ricketts: “Showing ID when they go to vote, it’s one of the ways we can strengthen the integrity of our elections. It’s a great opportunity for the second house, the people of Nebraska, to be able to weigh in a way where the Legislature has not been able to get it passed.”

Ricketts said a successful initiative will increase voter confidence in the election process.

State Sen. Rob Clements of Cass County  explained the obstacles leading to his support of the ballot initiative.

 

Clements: “We had a voter ID bill in the Legislature. It went to the government committee, but it was a 4 to 4 tie vote and we couldn’t get it out to the floor. And, even if we would’ve got it to the floor, we wouldn’t needed 33 votes, which we were short of that.”

He said requiring photo identification is an important safeguard.

Clements: “I had an immigrant who talked to me that is a new American citizen and he was able to vote this year. He said I just walked in there and told them my name and my address and they didn’t know who I was for sure, but they let me vote.  He was really surprised. In the country he came from, he wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Jennifer Hicks of Peru said voter ID is a common sense measure, but not enough to protect the integrity of Nebraska elections.

Hicks: “It’s a measure that we should have had in place already, but it does not secure our elections at all.”

She said Nebraskans will have to return to hand counting ballots to remove vulnerabilities inherent with electronic ballot counting.