At mid-day on Primary Election Day in Nebraska, Civic Nebraska’s nonpartisan poll observers and calls to its Election Protection Line indicated steady day-of, in-person voting around the state with no major issues to report.
About 250,000 Nebraska voters requested early ballots for today’s primary election – about two-thirds as many as the 2020 Nebraska Primary, which took place during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the early ballot requests are the second-most in the history of the Nebraska Primary.
Voters have until 8 p.m. CDT today to deposit early mail-in ballots in a county election office dropbox. Those who did not receive early ballots can vote in person at their regular polling places until 8 p.m. CDT today.
“For a large number of Nebraskans, a silver lining from the pandemic is that voting early by mail has become their new standard,” said John Cartier, Civic Nebraska’s director of voting rights.
By mid-day, calls to Civic Nebraska’s Election Protection Hotline, 402-890-5291, shared few major concerns. The most notable query came from Sarpy County, where multiple petitioners were spotted stationed outside at least one polling place, soliciting signatures in support of a potential ballot initiative. Nebraska law prohibits circulating petitions, placing campaign signs, or distributing campaign-based materials within 200 feet of a polling place.
Civic Nebraska alerted county election officials of the issue.
Other calls focused on Nonpartisan voters’ options in the primary. In Nebraska, Nonpartisan voters can request a Nonpartisan version of the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Legal Marijuana NOW primary ballot. For more information on specific Nonpartisan voting options, visit our Election Central FAQ page.
Other than those and a few other minor instances, the first half of Election Day proceeded smoothly and safely, Cartier said.
