More than 32,000 early vote-by-mail ballots have been processed and mailed in Lancaster County, despite the president’s recent executive order aimed at reshaping U.S. elections.
Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to create lists of U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state, and instructing the U.S. Postal Service to send mail ballots only to verified voters.
In a statement, Lincoln-Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen said his office would proceed with the primary election as planned in compliance with existing state and federal laws, as any deadlines in the President’s Executive Order for federal agencies are beyond Nebraska’s May 12 primary.
“Executive orders are directives to executive agencies. They do not have the effect of law,” Wiltgen told KLIN News. “And based on the time frames laid out, they will not be applicable to our primary election. We’ll know more as we get closer to the general election in November, as there are a number of pending legal actions involving those executive orders. We have to wait and see what comes of those court cases.”
Election law experts have questioned whether the order will stand up to legal scrutiny, similar to a past executive order blocked by a federal judge.
“Voters should just proceed as they always have, and if anything were to change, they’ll get instructions from the Secretary of State or from my office,” he said. “Every voter who submitted a valid early vote-by-mail ballot request through last Friday should receive their ballot by the end of this week.”
Wiltgen said 340 requests could not be processed, mostly due to voters forgetting to sign the request or complete the voter identification portion of the form. These voters will be notified in writing with instructions to correct it. Voters may check the status of their early vote ballot at votercheck.necvr.ne.gov.
Deadlines and Details
Voters in Lancaster County can still request an early vote-by-mail ballot. The deadline to submit a vote-by-mail application for the May 12 primary election is 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 1. An early vote request form is available at lancaster.ne.gov/election.
Early vote ballots must be returned to the Election Commission in the self-addressed envelope enclosed with their ballot by mail or by dropping them off in one of the secure drop boxes listed below:
- Election Commission, 601 N. 46th St.
- Anderson Branch Library, 3635 Touzalin Ave.
- Eiseley Branch Library, 1530 Superior St.
- Gere Branch Library, 2400 S. 56th St.
- Walt Branch Library, 6701 S. 14th St.
By law, early vote ballot envelopes must be signed and received by the Election Commission by 8:00 p.m. on the primary election day, Tuesday, May 12.
Also starting today, voters may pick up an early vote ballot for the primary election at the Election Commission. Early in-person voting will begin next Monday, April 13.
Election Commission office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 p.m. Extended office hours are listed below:
- Friday, May 1, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 6, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Saturday, May 9, 9:00 a.m. to Noon
- Monday, May 11, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Commissioner Wiltgen reminds the public that the penalty for election falsification is imprisonment for up to two years in prison, followed by 12 months of post-release supervision, a fine not to exceed $10,000, or both.
Individuals who have questions should contact the Election Commissioner’s Office at (402) 441-7311.