As we look toward Thanksgiving, we feel deeply thankful for the many wonderful people across the state who worked hard to ensure local community members were ready to vote in this year’s elections! – knocking thousands of doors through rain and snow in a nonpartisan effort to share information about options for voting by mail, early in-person, and at the… Read more →
Note: This is a guest post from Appleseed intern Lee Kreimer. As a 22-year-old college student, I can’t tell you how many times I have been informed of my naivety and my wishful thinking about the importance of voting. “It does nothing.” “My vote won’t matter anyway.” Or, my favorite response: “Why should I give my opinion about politics? The… Read more →
***For Immediate Release*** January 23, 2015 Contact: Jeff Sheldon Communications Director, Nebraska Appleseed Office: (402) 438-8853 Mobile: (402) 840-7289 jsheldon@neappleseed.org LINCOLN — Today, Nebraska Appleseed Executive Director Becky Gould issued the following statement on the proposed voter ID bills LB 111 and LB 121 heard by the Legislature’s Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee this afternoon. “LB 111 and LB 121… Read more →
Immigrant and Latino leaders in six Nebraska counties celebrated an election season filled with new outreach to voters of color this year. Community volunteers in six counties reached more than 9,600 voters with basic information about the voting process through door-knocking, phone-banking, and mail. “We were excited to reach out with information about where and when people could vote,” said… Read more →
Note: This is a guest blog post from a group of Union College students who worked with Appleseed staff this fall to create a project designed to encourage Nebraska college students to vote in this election. This semester the Practice III class at Union College hosted a service learning project where students had the opportunity to work alongside an organization.… Read more →
Tomorrow is your chance to help make hard work pay in Nebraska by voting FOR Initiative 425 to raise Nebraska’s minimum wage to $9.00 per hour! Voting for Initiative 425 will reaffirm the value and dignity of hard work for thousands of Nebraska families who have fallen behind despite working full-time jobs. Click here to find your polling place Our… Read more →
With the November 4th election quickly approaching, Appleseed staff have been busy traveling across the state to encourage Nebraskans to vote. We caught up with our organizer, Alex Gibilisco, to find out what is motivating Nebraskans to go to their polling place this fall, many of them for the first time. Q. What sort of work has Appleseed been doing to… Read more →
Hearing in Kansas City part of national series to examine state of voting challenges, successes and opportunities for election reform Nebraska voting rights advocates were among the testifiers at a hearing Monday in Kansas City organized by the National Commission on Voting Rights (NCVR). Voters, community leaders and advocates testified at the hearing about the accessibility of elections in Nebraska,… Read more →
The History The Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 (during the Jim Crow era) to protect minority voters against discrimination and practices meant to make voting more difficult, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation at the ballot box. The legislation gave the federal government, and specifically the Department of Justice,… Read more →
Our public officials are best able to serve the public when there is a bond of trust between decision-makers and the people affected by those decisions. Limiting the possibility of conflicts of interest is important to protecting that relationship. The Lincoln City Charter Amendment on the ballot May 7 would foster trust and ensure integrity within city government by prohibiting… Read more →
Voting is an American right – and making voting harder is not a Nebraska value. LB 381 mandates a restrictive and unnecessary voter identification system, puts a greater burden on our already overburdened election workers, and undermines our democracy by creating barriers to voting for many older Nebraskans who no longer drive, young voters and students who move frequently, people… Read more →
LB 381, a voter suppression bill that restricts voting access, will be heard by the Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee today. Voting is an American right – and making voting harder is neither Constitutional, nor a Nebraska value. This bill mandates a restrictive and unnecessary voter identification system, puts a greater burden on our already overburdened election workers, and… Read more →
Appleseed testified on a number of bills in committee last week Foster Care Reimbursement Rates LB 530 – A bill that increases reimbursements for foster families to better meet the needs of children in foster care, establishes a pilot project for a new method of determining rates, and extends the Children’s Commission and its subcommittees until 2016. Appleseed testified in… Read more →
Last year, the decision to close 166 polling places in Douglas County impacted the ability to vote for thousands of Nebraskans. At the time, Nebraska Appleseed joined with several groups to call on the Douglas County Election Commissioner to restore the closed polling places and take steps to ensure voters are not disenfranchised in future elections. Thursday, Appleseed testified in… Read more →
Tuesday, nearly 800,000 Nebraskans cast a vote in the general election. We are proud that so many people in our state made their voices heard and exercised one of the fundamental rights in our country. However, there were many people in our state that found difficulty when it came to casting their ballot. Confusion around the number and location of… Read more →
It’s Election Day, and Nebraska Appleseed is celebrating with community leaders who have been helping to ensure that new American voters across the state had the voting process information they needed to fully participate in the democracy. We worked with community leaders in six communities – Columbus, Crete, Grand Island, Lexington, Schuyler, and South Sioux City – to coordinate volunteer… Read more →
On Wednesday, The Reader published an in-depth feature story detailing the Omaha communities impacted by the decision to close 166 polling places in Douglas County. The Reader conducted weeks of comprehensive analysis that was reviewed independently and confirmed by Nebraskans for Civic Reform. The findings are startling. The data shows that the closures had a disproportionate effect on certain communities… Read more →
Today, Nebraska Appleseed and Nebraskans for Civic Reform wrote a letter to Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale formally requesting an investigation concerning the practices and procedures of Douglas County Election Commissioner Dave Phipps. Earlier this year, Phipps announced he will eliminate half of Omaha’s polling locations in spite of the closings having a disproportionate impact on low-income and minority populations’… Read more →
THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Douglas County Election Commissioner’s Office 225 N. 115th Street & Davenport, Omaha The Douglas County Election Commission has announced it will close almost half of the longtime polling places in Omaha which will have a disproportionate effect on North and South Omaha, the elderly, the disabled, and people who do not have… Read more →
“I’m here … because I think that voting rights are the basis of our democracy. When I see voting rights come under attack I feel personally attacked and my heart goes out to people this bill will affect,” said Claire Hillan when asked why she gathered with over 70 other Nebraskans at the State Capitol Wednesday to lobby state senators… Read more →
