LINCOLN — More than 50 opponents of a bill that would require voters to show identification at the polls crowded a podium Tuesday in the Capitol Rotunda in a final effort to urge senators to oppose the bill, but its supporters aren't backing down.
Representatives for the League of Women Voters of Nebraska, the Nebraska Association of County Officials, the Douglas County Board, the NAACP and AARP Nebraska said voter ID fraud is not a problem in Nebraska.
They reiterated a phrase they've used since they began fighting the bill: “This is a solution looking for a problem.”
They also said that the legislation would make it harder for youths, the elderly, minorities and people with disabilities to vote and that Legislative Bill 239 would be costly for counties to implement.
Larry Dix, executive director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, said the legislation would cost counties between 15 cents and 55 cents per registered voter each election cycle. Additional expenses would include printing costs for provisional ballots for voters without ID, staffing increases at the polls and pollworker training.
Cash-strapped counties are already making tough decisions, such as whether to fund health care or add gravel to roads, said Mike Boyle, a Douglas County Board member. He asked that senators not pile on another “unfunded mandate.”
Omaha State Sens. Heath Mello and Brenda Council have said they plan to launch a filibuster in an effort to kill the legislation.
Individual senators and the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee have proposed 14 amendments to the legislation, which Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduced in January 2011.
The bill made it out of committee last session but never reached the full Legislature.
Amendments ensure lengthy debate. Senators were supposed to debate the bill earlier this year, but Janssen removed it from the agenda to counter what he called the misinformation being spread about the legislation.
Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala has made Janssen's bill his priority, which puts LB 239 back on the schedule for legislative debate. That has prompted opposition groups to renew their assault on the measure.
Schilz, asked why he made the measure his priority bill, said, “It's one of those issues that I felt needed to have the public debate.”
He said that while he doesn't think voter fraud is widespread, “I think there's more of a problem out there than most folks want to admit.”
Most of the voters in his district that he has talked to about it support the bill, he said.
He challenged the costs cited for the bill, saying that the figures were estimates and that no one would know how much it would cost unless it was implemented.
Schilz said he was aware of the list of amendments scheduled on the bill.
“I know it's going to be a substantive and lively debate,” he said.
World-Herald staff writer Jonathon Braden contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: teresa.lostroh@owh.com
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