NEBRASKA- Supporters of an effort that would require Nebraska voters to show photo ID at the polls say it’s necessary to ensure elections here “stay free and fair.”

Opponents frame it as an unnecessary requirement that would serve as a barrier to the ballot box, especially for people already at the margins of access.

Underlying opponents’ argument is that there doesn’t seem to be a single documented case of the presumed problem voter ID laws aim to address — Nebraska voters trying to impersonate other voters.

“The thing I can say about widespread voter fraud is: Both proponents and opponents of voter ID laws have looked really hard for evidence of widespread voter fraud, and neither side has found it,” said University of Nebraska-Lincoln political scientist Kevin Smith.

That’s not to say nothing illegal ever happens.

The one example most people point to occurred in 2017, when court records and news reports show that two Dawson County men were accused of voting twice and pleaded no contest. Neal Erickson, who was elections director in Nebraska for two decades and is now legal counsel for the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, recalled a case where someone voted in Kansas then came to Nebraska and voted here, too, and a couple when a man signed a ballot for his wife.

But, in his 20 years, he doesn’t recall a case of false impersonation and there was never an indication of any systemic fraud operations.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen supports requiring photo ID to cast a ballot — the issue was key to his successful statewide election bid in 2018. He uses an analogy of bank vaults: Robberies are rare, but all banks have vaults.

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