Voter ID not yet a slam dunk in legislature

OMAHA >> State Sen. Mike Groene was frustrated but not terribly surprised last year when Nebraska’s Legislature rejected, for the seventh time, a measure that would have forced voters to show a government-issued identification at the polls.

The issue is a slam dunk in most conservative states, where Republican majorities simply brush aside Democratic objections to pass more restrictive voting laws. But not in Nebraska, a GOP stronghold whose quirky, nonpartisan Legislature enables more liberal lawmakers to derail bills that are widely supported in a state where Republicans hold every statewide and federal office.

Now, a campaign bankrolled by the conservative governor’s mother is aiming to end Nebraska’s distinction as the only GOP state without a voter ID law. The group Citizens for Voter ID is gathering the roughly 125,000 signatures needed to put the issue on the 2022 general ballot, and even opponents acknowledge the measure probably will pass.