SENATOR, FORMER LAWMAKER SAY SOME VOTER ID PETITION CIRCULATORS CLAIM TO BE STATE EMPLOYEES

LINCOLN- Some petition circulators seeking signatures for a voter ID initiative are falsely claiming they are state employees, a current and a former state senator said earlier this week.

Impersonating someone else to gain something of value — in this case, payment for collecting a petition signature - is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. The crime would rise to a felony if repeated more than twice.

State Sen. Julie Slama, the director of Citizens for Voter ID, which is seeking to place a voter identification initiative on the November ballot, said in a text that her organization is looking into the complaints.

If they proved to be true, Slama said, it would result in “corrective action up to and including termination of the circulators.”

The voter ID initiative is using a company, Vanguard Field Strategies of Kansas City, Missouri, to collect signatures using paid circulators.

One came from former State Sen. Shelley Kiel, who lives in the Dundee area of Omaha. Kiel said a young woman came to her door and began the conversation by claiming, “I’m from the State of Nebraska,” and asking Kiel to sign the vote ID petition.

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