LINCOLN — The senator who led the successful ballot initiative to require voter identification in Nebraska introduced a bill Tuesday to carry out the requirement.
Legislative Bill 535 spells out acceptable types of identification, requirements for providing ID with mail-in ballots and the process for handling cases where voters show up at the polls without ID.
The measure also requires the secretary of state to undertake a voter education effort and provides for free state ID cards and birth certificates for people lacking acceptable ID.
State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar introduced the bill, which promptly drew criticism from the ACLU of Nebraska as creating “unreasonable barriers to the ballot.”
Slama sponsored the initiative petition drive that put a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot, then led the campaign for its successful passage. The measure requires voters to present “valid photographic” ID before casting a ballot “in any election.”
LB 535 would define valid photographic IDs as documents issued by the State of Nebraska, the federal government or Native American tribes that meet certain standards.
Among those standards, the name on the ID would have to conform to the name on a person’s voter registration. Except for military, veteran or tribal IDs, the documents would have to have expiration dates and not have expired before the last general election. The documents would either have to have a photo of the person or an affidavit stating that the person has a religious objection to being photographed.
Under the bill, people voting by mail would have to provide their driver’s license or state ID number or a copy of another acceptable ID when requesting a ballot and when returning it. People voting in person, including those voting early at an election office, would have to show their ID.
Anyone who showed up to vote without an ID could vote provisionally, but their vote would only be counted if they provided an acceptable ID to the county election office by the Tuesday following the election.
Under LB 535, the Department of Motor Vehicles would provide a free state ID to anyone without a Nebraska driver’s license who needs an ID for voting. The bill also would provide a free birth certificate to people who need one to get an ID for voting.
The measure was among 163 bills introduced on the next-to-last day of bill introductions. Among the others:
Abortion: Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, along with 28 other state senators, introduced her anticipated abortion bill, LB 626, which would ban all abortions after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, which typically happens around six weeks past fertilization. Physicians could lose their medical licenses if they perform abortions beyond this point.
The legislation has received harsh criticism from opponents since Albrecht announced it last week. The most common criticism is that most women don’t realize they are pregnant until after the legislation would ban an abortion.
Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who led the opposition against Albrecht’s previous attempt to ban all abortions last year, introduced LB 488 on Tuesday, which would require state hospitals provide sexual assault survivors with “medically and factually accurate” information about emergency contraception. LB 626 includes an exception for victims of sexual assault.
Education: LB 475, introduced by Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, would eliminate the state’s current school funding formula and replace it with the “Nebraska Education Formula.” The new formula would allocate funding based on district enrollment, with additional provisions in place for low-income students and students with limited English proficiency.
The bill runs counter to several measures Gov. Jim Pillen just pledged his support to Tuesday morning. Pillen’s bills would maintain the current funding formula, but would add $1,500 in foundational aid for every student, establish a $1 billion “Education Future Fund” that would grow up to $2.5 billion, and limit school districts from increasing their revenue beyond 3% per year.
Another bill introduced by Sen. Jen Day of Omaha, LB 558, would require that all public school employees be paid at least 70% of the statewide average hourly wage. Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont also introduced a bill, LB 581, which would give immunity to school employees that use naloxone, a lifesaving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.
Marijuana: Medical marijuana would be legalized under LB 588, introduced by Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln. The user must be using the drug to treat a specific ailment listed in the bill. Wishart previously vowed to bring the legislation after a petition she led last year to legalize medical marijuana failed to get enough signatures to make it on the ballot.
Streetcars: LB 477, introduced by Wayne, would allocate $100 million to the Omaha Streetcar Authority for the long-awaited Omaha streetcar, with the condition that half the funding be used for establishing a streetcar line through North Omaha. Wayne, a proponent of public transportation, is also leading an effort to devote roughly $335 million to economic recovery efforts in underserved areas, primarily in North and South Omaha.
Red flag: LB 482, introduced by Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln, would allow law enforcement to seek a suicide risk protection order from the courts in cases where a person poses a significant risk of injuring themselves or others. The orders would bar the person from having any firearms. Raybould said the measure was modeled after a so-called “red flag” proposal offered by former Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln.
Restrictive housing: Nebraska inmates would not be placed in restrictive housing for more than 15 consecutive days under LB 557, introduced by Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha. Restrictive housing is considered confinement where inmates have limited contact with other offenders, and have controlled movement out of their cell under limited out-of-cell time. Solitary confinement is already not allowed under state law.
Lottery tickets: Lottery tickets could be purchased through vending machines under LB 493, introduced by Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln.
Self-driving cars: LB 625 would mandate that operating self-driving cars be occupied by someone with a valid operator’s license who has the ability to monitor the car’s performance and operate the vehicle if necessary. Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha introduced the bill.
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