2022 Petition Initiatives- Part Four of a Series

By Gordon HopkinsOne of the petitions circulating for the 2022 election is the Voter Identification Initiative, which would amend the Nebraska Constitution to require a valid photographic identification (ID) in order to vote.The initiative states, “Before casting a ballot in any election, a qualified voter shall present valid photographic identification in a manner specified by the Legislature to ensure the preservation of an individual’s rights under this Constitution and the Constitution of the United States.”Currently, voters are not required to present identification in order to vote in Nebraska. However, registrants are required to have a Nebraska driver’s license or state-issued identification card to register online. The information is checked with the Department of Motor Vehicles and the signature is retrieved and added to the voter application. Without a state-issued ID, registrants are required to submit proof of a current address, such as a copy of a utility bill or bank statement, and to sign a paper application.Senator Tom BrandtThe amendment would leave regulation of photographic identification up to the Nebraska State Legislature and does not specify how it would be implemented. FJN recently spoke to Senator Tom Brandt, District 32, about the proposed amendment, and he cited this as a concern, “I haven’t actually read the petition. I’m not opposed to that. The question is, what’s that going to cost the state of Nebraska? You know, if it’s going to cost us $2 or $3 million to implement that. I would assume the voter ID will pass, and that the state will be obligated to provide IDs.”Brandt noted there are a lot of Nebraskans that do not have IDs.“So if you think about maybe an older person that has lost their license, maybe somebody lost their license, because of a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). I mean, everybody goes right to immigrants, but there’s a high percentage of our population that don’t have IDs,” said Brandt. “Then if you don’t have an ID, you aren’t going to get a vote. So then, if that ID costs 10 bucks, is that on the individual to pay for the ID or, because the state law mandated that, does the state? That’s my concern.”Brandt added, “I would suspect the state is going to because that’s happened in other places.”Because the proposed initiative leaves the specifics of regulation to the Legislature, there are questions that may not be answered unless and until the initiative passes.“Another question I had, because my daughter serves in the military, if she’s overseas, how does that work? ‘Oh, we’re going to exempt the military.’ That was always their answer when it was in there,” said Brandt. “Also, if you have active military that are residents of the state of Nebraska that are on a combat tour, how are you going to do voter ID?”Voting By MailNebraska allows people to vote via mail. There is already a system of checks and balances in place to prevent more than one person voting on the same ballot or to prevent a person voting twice, by mail and in person. Kristina Riggle, Jefferson County Clerk and Election Commissioner, recently spoke to FJN and explained, “They have to request a signature on the application that gets verified against their signature in the record. You issue the ballot, they also have to sign the back of that ballot when they return it. That’s logged into our system. When we read those rosters for the polling places, they’re flagged as already having voted.”Riggle added, “Nebraska has a great voting process.”Brandt concurred, “Nebraska runs very good elections. Our Secretary of State. There is not one incident of fraud in the state of Nebraska.”Despite this, Brandt acknowledges there is a great deal of interest in voter fraud and election security, which is how this petition came to be, “There are some people that are pretty wound up on ‘Stop the Steal’ (a movement that promotes the idea that President Joseph Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election) and voting machines, and that’s sort of a different subject. But we run really solid elections here. And I spoke to Thayer County Republicans. That’s a big issue over there. And it’s like, they love their county clerk and how they run the elections in their county. They’re worried about everybody else. Well, it’s like anything else. They like their locals, but we can’t trust, you know, these other places.”Brandt said, “Well, show me some evidence here and we’ll go forward.”What Opponents SayFJN reached out to the Nebraska ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). ACLU Communications Director Sam Petto said, “The short of it is that a voter ID restriction would prevent otherwise eligible Nebraskans from voting. These restrictions in other states have been shown to reduce participation. They also present a significant hurdle to people with disabilities, the elderly or anyone in rural areas without access to a car or public transportation. It’s also important to note that people of color disproportionately lack ID.”Echoing what Senator Brandt pointed out, Petto also said, “Finally, this particular proposal also introduces the possibility of unnecessary costs, complications and consequences. The estimate for implementation is in the millions. Our elections are already secure without this extra barrier. That’s why we’re asking Nebraskans to decline to sign the petition.”SponsorsThe petition has multiple co-sponsors, including Nebraska State Senator Julie Slama, District One, and an organization called Citizens for Voter ID, Inc. FJN reached out to both but did not receive a response as of press time.

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