Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen notes that the the upcoming May 14 statewide primary will be a historical election.
“It will be the first election where we have voter ID requirements in place, in accordance with our new Nebraska constitutional requirement.”
Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 requiring a photo ID to vote. More than 65% of voters approved the constitutional amendment, and as set out, the Nebraska Legislature decided the forms of identification that would serve as acceptable forms of identification.
Evnen is traveling the state this week, educating Nebraskans about the new Voter ID requirements and the integrity of the state’s election system. On Tuesday, Evnen stopped in Scottsbluff where he spoke with the Scottsbluff-Gering Rotary group, did interviews with area media and visited with county election officials.
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Secure electionsAs Secretary of State, Evnen said, he has long been a supporter of Voter ID requirements.
“It’s an easy way to help stay ahead of the curve from the standpoint of election security,” he said. “The requirement isn’t going to disenfranchise any registered voter who cares to cast a ballot. It does help secure that part of balloting. To me, it’s just common sense.”
In Nebraska, there are no doubts that elections are secure. Evnen explained that there are set processes before every election in which test ballots are run through every ballot counting machine in the state in the month preceding an election. That process will be done prior to the primary and again before the general election in November. Every machine in the state is tested.
“We’re checking to see whether the ballot counting machines are accurately counting the ballots. In addition to that, we run mock elections in the month prior to the primaries, and again in the month prior to the general election to see whether or not the components of the process are accurately counting and reporting the results.”
After elections, he said, a post-election audit is ran where officials hand count the ballots in 10% of the precincts in the state. There are 1,320 precincts in the state, he said, so that’s 132 precincts. At least one precinct in every county of the state is counted.”
And, election officials don’t know which precinct will be audited, as a random numbers table is used to select the precinct.
In November 2022, he said, over 48,000 ballots were counted and out of those ballots, only 11 discrepancies were found. Of those ballots, he estimated that six were misfiled and five were ballots that the machines couldn’t count because they were marked too lightly.
In November 2022, Evnen said the state approached 700,000 ballots being cast across the state. Post-election, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office also evaluates the voting histories for the election and in doing so, he said, they only found discrepancies in ballots and simple errors were found to be at play.
“I think that the people of our state owe a great debt of gratitude to the election officials across the state in our 93 counties for the excellence that they pursue in the performance of our elections,” Evnen said. “They pursue it, and they achieve it.”
For persons who are interested in the election system, Evnen encourages them to see the process firsthand: Volunteer to be a poll worker. Many people stepped up during the pandemic to serve as poll workers, he said, and that need continues. He particularly encourages young people to get involved.
“It’s time to pass the torch to a new generation,” he said. “It’s very satisfying work. It’s paid, and you can learn about our election process from the inside.”
Voter ID Requirements
“We are receiving questions,” Evnen said of the new requirements. “We’re also conducting an educational and informational campaign across the state to let people know that this requirement is in place and to let them know what they need to do.”
Evnen said that materials have been distributed throughout the state in English and Spanish to reach voters. Also, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office has established a website, voterid.nebraska.gov where all information is available, again in English and Spanish.
“It really is quite comprehensive,” he said.
Most Nebraskans already have an identification that will meet the requirements for providing an ID that they’ll need on Election Day. Evnen estimated that 97% to 98% of Nebraska’s registered voters already have a state issued photo ID issued by the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.
“It’s a very, very high percentage,” he said. “We have something over 1.2 million registered voters in Nebraska.”
For those registered voters who the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office was unable to confirm that they had a state-issued photo ID — either a driver’s license or state ID — letters were sent out last week informing them of the requirement. About 35,000 letters were sent out, which Evnen said is a two-sided letter, with one in English and the other side in Spanish, advising them of the requirement.
Voters visiting polls on Election Day should to be prepared to produce one of the following acceptable IDs: Nebraska driver’s license; Nebraska state ID; U.S. passport; military ID; tribal ID; hospital, assisted-living facility or nursing home record; Nebraska political subdivision ID (state, county, city, school, etc.) or Nebraska college or university ID (public or private).
The ID must have the voter’s name and photo. IDs can be expired.
One area of confusion that Evnen said he has received is that many think that they have to re-register in order to vote in the upcoming election. He said Nebraskans are not required to re-register if their information is up to date.
Nebraskans can get a free state ID from the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If the person was born in Nebraska and needs a free certified copy of their Nebraska birth certificate to get a free state ID, they can contact the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and obtain a birth certificate for free. However, a birth certificate is not a valid form of voter ID.
Voter ID educational material is available in English and Spanish at voterID.nebraska.gov.
Early Voting
Earlier this month, county election offices also began sending out early voting ballots for the statewide primary to voters who completed early voting applications and fulfilled the new voter ID requirement. Voters have two options to fulfill the new voter ID requirement during the early voting application process. They can write their driver’s license or state ID number on their early voting application, or voters can submit their early voting application with a photocopy of their acceptable photo ID.
Registered Nebraska voters can still request an early voting ballot by sending their completed early voting application to their county election office. People can also vote early, in-person, at their county election office through May 13.
Early voting applications are available at sos.nebraska.gov/elections/early-voting.
For information about the county election office near you, visit sos.nebraska.gov/elections/election-officials-contact-information or your local county government’s website.