GROUP SAYS VOTER ID WOULD BLOCK THOUSANDS OF NEBRASKANS FROM VOTING

LINCOLN- Voting rights advocates argued that Nebraska’s Voter ID initiative on the November ballot is a blunt-force proposal aimed at fixing a nonexistent problem.

Omaha civil rights activist Preston Love Jr. spoke on a panel of people this week opposing Initiative 432. The ballot measure would require Nebraskans to show a valid photo ID to vote.

The anti-ID panelists — Love, ACLU Nebraska’s Jane Seu and Civic Nebraska’s Heather Engdahl — said voter ID laws reduce voting by people in communities of color and by people in poverty.

Seu cited studies from states that now require a form of ID to vote that indicated a 2-3 percentage point decline in turnout after requiring ID. That’s thousands of people shut out, Seu said.

Voter ID adds more complications and confusion to in-person voting and voting by mail, she said. People face longer lines and longer waits to vote, and more mailed-in ballots are rejected.

Gov. Pete Ricketts and backers of voter ID, including State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, said that requiring ID is a “common sense” way to make sure elections remain secure.

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