Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

This past year, the Nebraska Legislature passed legislation to implement voter ID requirements following a 2022 vote by Nebraska citizens that approved a constitutional amendment to require voter ID. Although lawmakers proposed several different versions of voter ID that ran the gamut from very strict to more lenient, the one ultimately adopted by the legislature fell somewhere in the middle. Therefore, Nebraska received a C- on this year’s scorecard.

Looking Back

Where Nebraska Started at the Beginning of 2023

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: No
• Restoration of Rights: Parole and/or Probation Disenfranchisement
• Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
• ID Requirements: No Document Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Nebraska as of 2022, we considered the state a middle tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2023 activity against other middle tier states.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2022): 25th
• EPI Score (2020): 6th
• CLC State Scorecard (2022): 7/10
• MAP Democracy Rating (2022): FAIR

2023: This Past Year

Legislative Progress

This past year the Legislature focused all of its election-related efforts on implementing a voter ID law.

• L 514 requires voters to show valid ID at the polls or include a photocopy of their ID or their actual DL/ID number when applying to vote by mail. Acceptable ID must include the voter’s name and photo and must be issued by the state or federal government, a tribe, a political subdivision of the state, an in-state college or university, or a hospital or assisted-living facility. Voters that lack acceptable ID may still vote if they qualify under one of the narrow “reasonable impediment” exemptions that require them to affirm they do not have ID due to an illness/disability, they lack the required documents to get an ID, or because of a religious objection to being photographed.