Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen expects to talk a lot this next year about what’s in the state’s new “voter ID” election law.
Evnen stopped by The Telegraph’s offices Tuesday as part of a series of initial press visits to discuss how voters can cast ballots and satisfy the 2023 law they mandated by signing initiative petitions and adopting a state voter ID constitutional amendment last year.
His office “will be putting this word out repeatedly” through press outlets and social media before the May 14, 2024, primary — the first election that will require voter ID — and the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.
The good news, Evnen said, is that “97% to 98%” of Nebraskans already have the two main types of photo ID: a state-issued driver’s license or ID card.
Legislative Bill 514, which Evnen’s office wrote at the request of state Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, outlines several other types of ID that Nebraskans can present in person at the polls or copy to include when voting early.
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But for most voters, Evnen said, satisfying voter ID will be simple: Show your driver’s license or state ID at your polling place or election office on Election Day, get your ballot and vote.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a large problem, because people have to show their IDs for everything,” he said. “This is nothing they should find out of the usual or extraordinary.”
LB 514 also says that “if you want a state-issued ID and you don’t have the money, the state DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) will issue it to you for free if you’re using it for voting purposes.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has mandated free access to state ID cards in rulings on voter ID, Evnen said.
The state Bureau of Vital Statistics will provide a free certified copy of one’s Nebraska birth certificate if it’s needed to obtain a state ID card.
LB 514 says people with a “reasonable impediment” — the lack of allowable documents, disability, illness or a religious objection to being photographed — can fill out a form when they register to vote.
Evnen stressed that the 2022 initiative wasn’t all the Legislature had to satisfy in crafting LB 514, which senators passed 38-1 and Gov. Jim Pillen signed on June 1.
The voter ID bill had to be practical to implement and meet the requirements of the initiative, but it also had to satisfy the U.S. Constitution, he said.
“In my view, that bill does all three of those things,” Evnen said.
If you don’t already have a driver’s license or state ID card, LB 514 says eligible voters can present one of the following documents to satisfy the law:
A U.S. passport.
A military ID card.
A Native American tribal ID card.
A photo ID issued by a Nebraska college or university.
A photo ID issued by a Nebraska state agency or local government.
People who live in assisted-living centers, nursing homes or skilled care facilities also may present a record from that facility with their name and photo. Medicare requires those facilities to keep such records, Evnen said.
As long as the above records have the voter’s name and photo, they’ll be valid under voter ID even if they’re expired.
People who forget to bring their photo ID to the polls can vote provisionally on Election Day. But LB 514 says they’ll have to present a valid photo ID at their county election office on or before the Tuesday after the election.
Evnen said Nebraskans asking for early ballots will have to provide their driver’s license or state ID number on their ballot application form. County clerk’s or election commissioner’s employees will look up that number in preparing their early ballot.
Those who apply for early ballots in writing must include a copy of one of the allowable photo IDs or their “reasonable impediment” certification when they mail or deliver their application, Evnen said.
Eleven Nebraska counties, including several in the Sandhills, conduct all their elections by mail. When their voters return ballots, Evnen said, they’ll have to insert a copy of an acceptable ID document or write their driver’s license or state ID number in an indicated space on the envelope.
“The (sealed) flap will cover those numbers, so they’ll only be seen when they’re opened in the election office by an election official,” he said.
The secretary of state added that his office and the state DMV are working on legally allowable methods under federal law to verify a voter’s U.S. citizenship if evidence suggests the voter isn’t a citizen.
Nebraskans who register to vote already must swear “under penalty of law” that they’re a citizen, Evnen said. They can be charged with a state felony if they’re lying.
But “we are not permitted to delay registration while we check on it,” he added. “What we can do is accept it, put them on the rolls and use what resources we can to confirm it.”
Should evidence turn up that the voter isn’t a citizen, “we’ll ask them to reconcile it, although they do not have to do that. We cannot take them off the rolls. That’s not allowed under federal law.”
Either way, Evnen said, his office can turn over evidence to the appropriate county attorney should it appear that a registered voter lied on oath about being a U.S. citizen.
But “we’re not going to jump to conclusions,” he said. “We’ll give people the opportunity to rectify it if there’s contrary evidence.”
The state Elections Division in Evnen’s office is developing a webpage with a link to LB 514 and other information on voter ID. Visit sos.nebraska.gov/elections/voter-id.