Voter ID bill, LB 239, taken off legislative agenda

Nebraska's proposed voter ID bill, LB 239, has been removed from the legislature's agenda, according to Associated Press reports Thursday evening.

The bill would have required voters to present a valid, current photo ID, or qualify for one of several exceptions, before receiving a ballot on election day. It had been introduced last session by State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont and carried over to the session that began this month.

The bill was one of dozens around the country that have recently been introduced or enacted, mostly by Republican controlled state legislatures.

According to reports from the Omaha World-Herald, Janssen pulled the bill to give himself more time to counter "misinformation" spread by the bill's opponents. Several reports said he planned on bringing it back later in the session.

Janssen said in an interview Wednesday that the proposal was meant to protect the integrity of the vote by preventing voter fraud, such as when a voter pretends to be someone else to cast more than one ballot. His first vote, he said, was from his station in the Persian Gulf War.

"It meant something to me to do that," Janssen said. "I've always held that sacred."

Repeated attempts to contact Janssen and the Speaker of the Legislature's office were unsuccessful.

Nebraska's AARP, NAACP chapters in Omaha and Lincoln, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and more than a dozen other groups quickly organized against the bill. The opposition held a lobbying rally and press conference in the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday. Voter ID laws, they said, disproportionately impact student, low-income, minority and elderly voters.

Students and low-income voters, for example, are more likely to change addresses often and would require a new license every time at a cost of about $26 to vote. Elderly voters, on the other hand, have a more difficult time getting to their DMV, opponents said.

A 2009 report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, co-written by University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Michael Wagner, found little to no impact on voter turnout in areas with voter ID laws, though it stressed that such laws warrant increased scrutiny.

Janssen and his opponents have also sparred over how pervasive voter fraud is. Janssen has said his opponents underestimate the potential for fraudulent votes.

Both sides often cite their own research on the prevalence of fraud. But Dave Shively, Lancaster County Election Commissioner, told the Daily Nebraskan he couldn't think of any instances of voter fraud. Larry Dix, executive director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, said in an interview that no officials from any of Nebraska's 93 counties have reported a problem. NACO opposes the bill.

Dix also said the cost of carrying out the law and training poll workers would be between 15 and 55 cents per registered voter per election. Neal Erickson, deputy secretary of state for elections said Nebraska has 1.13 million registered voters. According to these numbers, carrying out the law would cost between $169,000 and $621,000 each election. Janssen has said the law would cost county governments $15,000 to implement.

Adam Morfeld, executive director of Nebraskans for Civic Reform, which has organized the opposition, said in a phone interview the fight wasn't over. Morfeld is also a law student at the university and a member of the UNL Publications Board that oversees the Daily Nebraskan.

"As the opposition coalition, we're going to remain vigilant," he said. "We're going to continue to keep pressure on the body to fight election laws like this."

danholtmeyer@

dailynebraskan.com