LINCOLN- Despite immense opposition from one key senator, Nebraska's new voter identification requirements cleared a major hurdle on Monday after several hours of debate and filibuster. After adopting an amendment backed by the Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee, the bill was advanced to its second round of debate on a 43-1 vote, with Sen. Slama, the bill's major critic, being the sole 'no' vote.
Sen. Tom Brewer, one of the main architects of the voter ID proposal, said the Government Committee amendment was the product of weeks of work, and that it aims to carry out the will of Nebraska voters, who overwhelmingly passed a voter ID measure last year, without being too restrictive. Sen. Julie Slama, who sponsored the ballot initiative that paved the way for voter ID in Nebraska, called the amendment "unconstitutional," and claimed that it wouldn't stop people from voting without ID or require verification of citizenship.
"Nebraskans have spoken, and now it's our responsibility to ensure that only the votes of eligible voters are counted," said Slama, arguing that the Government Committee's amendment will "betray the will of the voters." Slama urged her colleagues to adopt her own amendment, which contained more expansive requirements concerning citizenship checks, mail-in ballots, and photo ID exceptions. Despite this, several Slama-backed amendments failed, with the final one garnering only eight votes of support. Slama criticized the Committee's amendment, saying it was drafted by Secretary of State Bob Evnen "to make his job easier" and that it was being pushed for by people historically opposed to voter ID.
On Wednesday, the body was set to continue the debate of the voter ID proposal, but was stopped just minutes before after Nebraska's Attorney General Mike Hilgers raised concerns. According to several sources, Hilgers saw the bill as too expansive in its exceptions for people who say they couldn't obtain a state-approved ID card in time to vote, and asked Sen. Brewer, the sponsor of the bill, to draft an amendment. Thus far, it isn't clear when the bill will come back up for debate.
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