Nebraskans will be asked to make their state the 22nd to require valid photo identification to vote when they go to the polls on Nov. 8, one of four election integrity measures on ballots nationwide this fall.
Nebraska’s Initiative 432 and Arizona’s Proposition 309 seek to incorporate more stringent ID requirements into state election laws. Proposed measures in Ohio and Louisiana would ban municipalities from allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Nebraska
The Photo Voter Identification Initiative would amend the state constitution to require valid photo identification to vote and authorize the state Senate to stipulate what those ID requirements would be.Nebraska is one of 15 states without voter ID requirements in its constitution. If Initiative 432 is adopted, Nebraska would join 21 states that require a photo ID and 36 that require an ID to vote in person.
The Nebraska proposal is the sixth measure presented to voters nationwide seeking to enact voter ID requirements since 2011, according to Ballotpedia. Voters in four states—Arkansas, North Carolina, Missouri, and Mississippi—approved such measures between 2011 and 2014. Minnesotans rejected one in 2012.
After Nebraska lawmakers failed to pass voter ID bills at least seven times in the past decade, Citizens for Voter ID got the proposed amendment on the ballot by submitting more than 172,000 signatures, nearly 50,000 more than required, before the June 7 deadline.
Citizens for Voter ID is led by state Sen. Julie Slama, a Republican, and supported by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, also a Republican.
“Showing ID when they go to vote, it’s one of the ways we can strengthen the integrity of our elections,” Ricketts said in a statement. “It’s a great opportunity for the second house, the people of Nebraska, to be able to weigh in a way where the Legislature has not been able to get it passed.”
Citizens for Voter ID raised $2.08 million for its campaign as of Aug. 1, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office. The bulk—$1.88 million—is from Marlene Ricketts, Pete Ricketts’s wife.
In campaign rallies, Slama noted that 35 states have enacted ID requirements to vote and cited a succession of surveys that show overwhelming support among voters for requiring ID to cast ballots, including 81 percent in a nationwide 2021 Monmouth University poll, with 62 percent of Democrat respondents.
Initiative 432 (I-432) is opposed by NoTo432.org, a coalition spearheaded by Nebraskans for Free and Fair Elections that includes Civic Nebraska, Black Votes Matter, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Metropolitan Omaha, the League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha, and the Nebraska NAACP.
Opponents have raised $68,000 in in-kind contributions in their campaign against I-432, according to Aug. 1 filings, arguing that the proposed voter ID requirements add unneeded complications and seek to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.
According to Nebraskans for Free and Fair Elections, if adopted, I-432 would prevent between 54,500 and 70,000 otherwise eligible state residents from voting.
Civic Nebraska maintains that the four states that have imposed an ID requirement to vote saw 2-to-3 percentage point declines in voter turnout once the new rules were in place.
I-432 is one of two ballot measures on Nebraska’s Nov. 8 ballot. The other is Initiative 433, a proposed Minimum Wage statute that would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026.
Mail-in ballots have already been dispatched to voters who have requested them. In-person early voting is from Oct. 11 to Nov. 5. The last day to register to vote in-person is Oct. 28 and Oct. 21 to register to vote by mail.
Arizona
The Arizonans for Voter ID Act would require dates of birth and voter ID numbers for mail-in ballots and eliminate the current two-document alternative to photo ID for in-person voting.Under Proposition 309, voters must present either a state-issued ID number, such as a driver’s license, or the last four digits of their social security number and their birthday on mail-in ballots. Right now, only a signature is needed.
State Sen. J.D. Mesnard, a Republican, sponsored the legislation adopted by super-majorities in both chambers after a coalition of conservative groups, organized as Arizonans for Voter ID, mounted a campaign beginning in June 2021 to get such a proposal before voters in 2022.
Arizonans for Voter ID is spearheaded by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which maintains that residents support “creating universal voter ID requirements ensuring that no matter when you vote, where you vote, or how you vote, identification will be required.”
Arizona law allows voters without a photo ID to present two documents with their name and address on them to cast a ballot. The proposed amendment would eliminate that option but offer a voter photo ID card, currently available for $12, for free.
The measure is opposed by an array of civic and progressive groups, including the League of Women Voters of Arizona, Opportunity Arizona, One Arizona, Defend Arizona Rights, the Arizona Education Association, and Activate 48, a coalition led by Living United for Change in Arizona, which includes Mi Familia Vota, Our Voice Our Vote Arizona, and Chispa Arizona.
“By one estimate, if this measure is approved by the voters, 396,000 voters may have their ballots thrown out,” Defend Arizona Rights Chair Tom Ryan said in a statement. “We are all for integrity and security in voting. We need the public to have confidence in the voting system. The danger of Prop 309 is it goes the other way—it creates so many traps and gimmicks that voting becomes a minefield. Make it simple. Keep it secured.”
Prop 309 is one of 10 ballot measures Arizonans will see on Nov. 8, including an amendment to create a lieutenant governor’s office. There are three virtual “town halls” on the Arizona secretary of state’s website explaining the proposals.
Early voting is from Oct. 12 to Nov. 4. The voting registration deadline is Oct. 11. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 28.
Ohio
The Ohio Citizenship Voting Requirement Amendment would prohibit local governments from allowing noncitizens, or those who “lack the qualifications of an elector,” to vote in local elections.Noncitizens have been formally prohibited from voting in federal elections since the 1996 adoption of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, but federal law doesn’t address state or local elections, leaving the matter to states and even local governments to decide.
While no state allows noncitizens to vote in statewide elections, 15 municipalities in at least four states permit noncitizens to cast ballots in some local referendums. That includes 11 Maryland municipalities and two in Vermont.
San Francisco has permitted noncitizens to vote in school board elections since 2016. In 2021, the New York City Council adopted a measure allowing 800,000 noncitizens to vote in municipal elections starting in January 2023.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only the Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and North Dakota constitutions stipulate that “only” a citizen can vote. The “only” wording has been installed in all five since 2018. Ohio and Louisiana could join them by year’s end. Iowa voters will see a similar measure on their 2024 ballots.
The Ohio Constitution reads, “Every citizen of the United States ... is entitled to vote at all elections.” If adopted, Issue 2 would change that wording to “Only a citizen of the United States ... is entitled to vote at all elections.”
The measure was placed on the ballot by supermajorities of both state legislative chambers in response to a noncitizen voting referendum proposed by the Yellow Springs Village Council and approved by 58 percent of the vote.
The village council’s “misguided” referendum drew a sharp rebuke from Republican state lawmakers and Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who lobbied lawmakers to put the proposed measure on the ballot as a “smart preventative measure.”
Among Issue 2 supporters are the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Among opponents are Democratic lawmakers and an array of civic, minority, and progressive organizations.
It’s one of two proposed constitutional amendments on Ohio’s Nov. 8 ballot. Issue 1 addresses how Ohio judges set bail amounts and conditions.
Louisiana
Louisiana’s Citizen Requirement for Voting Measure would also prohibit local governments from allowing noncitizens to vote and add a section to the state constitution stating, “No person who is not a citizen of the United States shall be allowed to register and vote in this state.”Amendment 1 is supported by Louisiana’s Republican Secretary of State, Kyle Ardoin, who maintains that the constitution’s reference to being a “citizen of the state” is confusing because a foreign citizen can be a Louisiana resident.
The measure was placed on the ballot by supermajorities in both state legislative chambers of the Republican-controlled legislature via legislation sponsored by state Rep. Debbie Villio, a Republican, who cited New York City’s 2022 measure as motivation.
Democratic lawmakers generally oppose the measure, but few objected to the legislation. There’s little organized opposition against the measure or, for that matter, concerted campaigning for its adoption.
It’s one of 11 proposed constitutional amendments Louisianans will vote on this fall, with eight set for Nov. 8 and three—including Amendment 1—slated for Dec. 10.
Early in-person voting runs from Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, with Nov. 4 being the deadline to request mail-in ballots.
