State Legislature Debates on ID Requirement for Voters

Nebraska State Capitol building. (Jeff Motz/KFOR News)

A member of the legislature wants voters to decide whether Nebraska should have Voter ID. Senator Andrew La Grone of Gretna has introduced a constitutional amendment, and says a national poll illustrates the importance of dealing with the issue immediately.

“Over half do have confidence that that elections are happening properly, but only thirteen percent have a high confidence. This committee has a great amount of things to do with election confidence,” said La Grone. He says voter ID is considered important by many of his constituents, and said the majority of the american population favors it.

“I believe this can be done without disenfranchising a single voter. Voting is the most important right that we have and I think this would go towards giving folks more confidence in that right.” La Grone explained.

Dozens of opponents lined up to testify against the bill.

Tyler Wilson of Omaha said voter fraud was not a problem in the last presidential election. “0.003% were fraudulent voters, which equals 414 votes out of 138 million,” said Wilson.

Christina Bradley, a former employee of Legal Aid of Nebraska, said homeless people face a Catch 22 when trying to obtain identification. “In the state of Nebraska, you are not able to get a drivers license or a state ID without a certified copy of your birth certificate. You are not able to get a birth certificate without a state ID,” Bradley said.