An attempt by Nebraska Republicans to change the state to a “winner-take-all” electoral college vote before the legislative session ended failed last week, KOLN reported.
Only Nebraska and Maine apportion their electoral college votes to whichever candidate wins individual congressional districts. Republicans in the state, fearing that the 2024 election may be dangerously close, proposed changing the law to apportion all 5 of Nebraska’s electoral college votes to the candidate who wins the state.
State Senator Julie Slama on April 3 attached a “winner-take-all” bill as an amendment to LB1300, hoping to give it a greater chance of getting approved before the end of the current legislative session.
However, when the chair ruled that the amendment was not germane to LB1300, Slama could only convince eight of the 23 senators needed to overrule the decision.
The initial bill, LB764, was sponsored by Republican Senator Loren Lippincott. However, with the tightly booked legislative session coming to a close, the bill was not given priority, mainly because it was unlikely to overcome a filibuster.
Lippincott said he and his staff were doing what they could to get the bill “to the finish line” but added that their options were limited.
The measure is opposed by Civic Nebraska, a group led by former Democrat state Senator Adam Morfeld. Morfeld said in a statement that the effort to force through a bill changing Nebraska to a “winner-take-all” state circumvented “necessary scrutiny and debate” and would compromise “the integrity of the legislative process.” Morfeld argued that Lippincott’s bill would be a “reckless, ill-conceived law” that would come “with unwelcome consequences.”
The proposed change was supported by Nebraska’s Republican Governor Jim Pillen and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Democrats in the state oppose the effort. State party chair Jane Kleeb said previous attempts by Republicans to “undo” the state’s split electoral votes have failed because “Nebraskans want to keep our fair electoral system in place.”
