Senator John Murante (R) from Nebraska Legislative District 49, representing the Gretna area, recently proposed a constitutional amendment that would create voter identification requirements for all Nebraskans.
“This is a little more than what we have seen in the past,” says Bri McLarty, Director of Voting Rights at Nebraskans for Civic Reform. “In the past we’ve seen a bill which would have gone into direct statutes. In the past we have been able to defeat the bill with a bi-partisan opposition, 12 Democrats, 12 Republicans and 1 independent,” says McClarty. This time around Senator Murante (R) has instead proposed an amendment that would alter the constitution of Nebraska if approved.
“He is actually looking to erase the protections we have in our constitution,” says McClarty, adding “Nebraska has one of the strongest protections for voters and we are proud of that. He is looking to weaken it, to make it easier for the state legislature to slowly pass these bills to make it harder for people to vote.” McClarty says she and her colleagues find it disconcerting that a state senator is looking to weaken the protections that were put in our state constitution over a hundred years ago.
Nebraskans for Civic Reform, which is headed by Nebraska State Senator Adam Morfeld (D), is already preparing to fight this amendment to ensure that the voting rights of all Nebraskans remain intact. The organization, which has previously published research showing the negative effects this type of change would have on the elderly, low-income individuals and college students among others, says that the costs to the state of Nebraska would be outrageous.
“The last time it came up in 2015 the Secretary of State estimated $300,000 would be needed just for education,” says McClarty, adding “in the state of Indiana they originally estimated maybe $700,000 and they spent over $2 million just implementing it, not including the court litigation fees. They woefully estimated how much it would actually cost just to put it into place.”
McClarty indicated that Senator Murante has gone on record to state that his proposed amendment the state would ensure that everyone gets a free identification card, however, according to McClarty the state senator hasn’t quite thought what financial repercussions this will have for the state. “So in Nebraska you can’t simultaneously have a driver’s license and a state I.D card,” says the Director of Voting Rights, adding “it means they are only going to provide state I.D’s for individuals that don’t have driver’s licenses, which is about a $5million expenditure or lost revenue because the state won’t be able to recoup any costs that it would take to actually provide these to people.”
“This is a little more than what we have seen in the past,” says Bri McLarty, Director of Voting Rights at Nebraskans for Civic Reform. “In the past we’ve seen a bill which would have gone into direct statutes. In the past we have been able to defeat the bill with a bi-partisan opposition, 12 Democrats, 12 Republicans and 1 independent,” says McClarty. This time around Senator Murante (R) has instead proposed an amendment that would alter the constitution of Nebraska if approved.
“He is actually looking to erase the protections we have in our constitution,” says McClarty, adding “Nebraska has one of the strongest protections for voters and we are proud of that. He is looking to weaken it, to make it easier for the state legislature to slowly pass these bills to make it harder for people to vote.” McClarty says she and her colleagues find it disconcerting that a state senator is looking to weaken the protections that were put in our state constitution over a hundred years ago.
Nebraskans for Civic Reform, which is headed by Nebraska State Senator Adam Morfeld (D), is already preparing to fight this amendment to ensure that the voting rights of all Nebraskans remain intact. The organization, which has previously published research showing the negative effects this type of change would have on the elderly, low-income individuals and college students among others, says that the costs to the state of Nebraska would be outrageous.
“The last time it came up in 2015 the Secretary of State estimated $300,000 would be needed just for education,” says McClarty, adding “in the state of Indiana they originally estimated maybe $700,000 and they spent over $2 million just implementing it, not including the court litigation fees. They woefully estimated how much it would actually cost just to put it into place.”
McClarty indicated that Senator Murante has gone on record to state that his proposed amendment the state would ensure that everyone gets a free identification card, however, according to McClarty the state senator hasn’t quite thought what financial repercussions this will have for the state. “So in Nebraska you can’t simultaneously have a driver’s license and a state I.D card,” says the Director of Voting Rights, adding “it means they are only going to provide state I.D’s for individuals that don’t have driver’s licenses, which is about a $5million expenditure or lost revenue because the state won’t be able to recoup any costs that it would take to actually provide these to people.”
McClarty also indicates there is an issue of fairness to be considered. “Then you look at ‘maybe we give out driver’s licenses, but it’s not fair that some of the population has already paid $26.50 to vote and the other part don’t pay anything,’ however [there are] over 800,000 driver’s licenses in Nebraska,” says McClarty. If the state had to cover the more than $26 dollars for each identification card they give away, the dollars would add up pretty quickly.
“We are looking at a huge financial burden to make it kind of accessible and it doesn’t make any sense to make it harder to vote while costing the state millions of dollars, especially as we are starting down a huge budget deficit,” says McClarty.
“We are looking at a huge financial burden to make it kind of accessible and it doesn’t make any sense to make it harder to vote while costing the state millions of dollars, especially as we are starting down a huge budget deficit,” says McClarty.
According to McClarty, Nebraskans for Civic Reform is already working hard to challenge this proposed constitutional amendment. The organization and their activists have already contacted Senator Murante (R) to ask him to reconsider his proposal. “We are going to work with our coalition partners and advocacy groups that represent individuals that are going to be impacted including people with disabilities, senior citizens, college students as well as low- income individuals that are really going to be harmed by this type of legislation,” says McClarty.
McClarty points out that her organization has been working on election protection for the past three or four elections so people that want to vote get the chance to. “Nebraska county officials do a great job and they really try hard to make sure that voting is accessible to everyone,” says McClarty, adding that her organization just wants to help with those voting protections.
For more information on Nebraskans for Civic Reform please visit nereform.org.
McClarty points out that her organization has been working on election protection for the past three or four elections so people that want to vote get the chance to. “Nebraska county officials do a great job and they really try hard to make sure that voting is accessible to everyone,” says McClarty, adding that her organization just wants to help with those voting protections.
For more information on Nebraskans for Civic Reform please visit nereform.org.