Local communities must have a say in the decisions being made that affect them. Our vote is our voice and we want all eligible Nebraska voters to participate in the electoral process and vote. This is why we strongly oppose the unnecessary voter restriction amendment introduced last month.
A Voter Restriction Amendment has been introduced in Nebraska, placing significant hurdles between Nebraskans and their constitutional right to vote. The amendment creates unnecessary and unclear ID requirements, which would create barriers for many students, senior citizens, disabled Nebraskans, voters of color, and Nebraskans with low incomes.
There is no evidence of widespread problems with voting in our state and no reason to complicate the voting process. Nebraska elections are already conducted with integrity and this amendment would unnecessarily restrict the right to vote and limit community voice.
The proposed voter restriction amendment is unnecessary and harmful:
- It unnecessarily complicates our election process creating significant hurdles for eligible voters before even making it to the polls.
- It would be costly for the state with a price tag of approximately $3 million to implement and $1 million every year following, not including that significant training required for poll workers and state commissioners.
- It has vague language that does not specify clear systems, rules or implementation strategies. For example, what counts as ‘valid photographic identification?’ Gavin’s story sheds light on the difficulty of having to provide ‘valid photographic identification.’
The new voter restriction group, “Citizens for Voter ID,” has begun collecting signatures across the state in an effort to have the amendment added to the November 2022 ballot. Signature collection will continue until July 2022 when it will be determined if there are enough signatures for the amendment to be added to the ballot.
Decline to Sign!
In order to stop this proposed amendment, we must decline to sign the voter ID ballot initiative. Nebraska Appleseed joins “Nebraskans for Free and Fair Elections” in the ‘decline to sign’ campaign to oppose the unnecessary restrictions on voter access. We must continue to build an inclusive democracy where every voice has equal opportunity to be heard.