Committee again backs Brewer on Nebraska voter ID; Slama pledges to kill the bill
LINCOLN — After a rare do-over Thursday, members of the Legislature’s Government and Military Affairs Committee again endorsed an approach to voter ID in Nebraska that supporters called “focused” and an opponent called an “abomination.”
State Sen. Julie Slama of Dunbar, who sponsored a competing proposal, pressed to have the committee vote again Thursday, challenging the original committee vote. Slama argued that Wednesday’s vote during an executive session risked violating the constitutional separation of powers and legislative rules, because a representative of the Secretary of State’s Office attended.
Once again, the committee adopted an amendment by State Sen. Tom Brewer, committee chairman, spelling out rules about providing photo identification while voting, as now required in the Nebraska Constitution. The amendment includes letting voters write down their state-approved ID number on the form requesting an early voting ballot and having election officials confirm the IDs electronically.
“I think it was a pretty clear voice from the committee on how they saw things,” Brewer said of AM 1748. “Comparing the two, there was one that was a much better option than the other.”
https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/05/18/committee-again-backs-brewer-on-nebraska-voter-id-slama-pledges-to-kill-the-bill/