OMAHA WORLD HERALD EDITORIAL: Americans have never let national emergencies stop us from holding elections. Wars, pandemics, economic collapses — as terrible as those challenges were, balloting still proceeded so that American democracy might live. So it will be this week as Nebraskans express their political will in the 2020 primary. The latest national emergency is, of course, COVID-19. It’s brought upheaval and trepidation to our country. But we can take comfort that it will not shatter our nation’s commitment to rule by the people through expression at the ballot box.

The historical example of the Civil War is directly relevant to our current situation. In 1864, our country faced its greatest obstacle to holding a national election. Could a legitimate presidential election be held that year, people wondered, when the conflict had drawn such enormous numbers of Northern men into military service?

The answer was yes, for two main reasons. First, because President Abraham Lincoln insisted that the election proceed, even though his re-election chances were weak until quite late in the election season. Second, because the nation adopted a system of large-scale absentee voting for the first time, to enable Northern servicemen to participate.

“The Civil War soldier vote set a precedent for what we now take for granted: that anyone who is away from home can vote,” says scholar Jonathan W. White. “You still retain that right of citizenship even if you’re not able to be at the ballot box on a given day.”

And so it is now in Nebraska

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