LINCOLN- With a voting ID initiative now on November's ballot, State Sen. Julie Slama is touring the state to garner support. Slama is the spokeswoman for Citizens for Voter ID, an organization that started the petition to place the issue on the ballot.
Slama emphasized during these visits the fact that voter ID isn't a "new concept" to Nebraskans, since it's been pushed by lawmakers on several occasions. Slama stated that she believes the reason it never passed is because of "special interest groups." Slama also believes that adding voting ID to the Nebraska constitution would be simple, but that the real challenge would be getting it through the 2023 Legislative session.
Opponents of voter ID argue that high voter turnout during elections and general trust in the current system are reasons to not implement a voter ID system. Preston Love, a prominent Democrat from Nebraska and friend of Chicago presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, stated in the past that implementing voter ID laws would cause voters to lose faith in the process
Gov. Pete Ricketts said that Nebraskans should be required to show photographic identification before voting, even though he acknowledged there have been few cases of voter fraud in the state. On the Governors monthly radio call in show, a caller called and questioned the initiative. He said Secretary of State Bob Evnen has said there has been no systemic voter fraud in the state.
But Ricketts said he “absolutely” supported the initiative measure and predicted the majority of voters will support it as well. He said that people have concerns about the integrity of voting systems stemming from the 2020 election and that voter ID would be one step to protect Nebraska elections.
“I think it’s another way to let our voters here in the state know that we’re taking steps to protect the integrity of our election system,” he said. “It’s one of the ways we can make people feel good about what we’re doing here.”
State campaign finance records show that Ricketts’ mother, Marlene Ricketts, provided nearly $1.9 million of the group’s nearly $2.1 million in funding.