Irrigation district election changes advanced

A bill that would clarify requirements for irrigation district elections cleared the first round of debate April 9.

Gering Sen. John Stinner, sponsor of LB561, said laws regulating election procedures for irrigation districts have not been updated in decades and do not reflect modern land ownership choices.

Among other provisions, the bill would allow an irrigation district of less than 15,000 acres to eliminate subdistricts and hold at-large elections. Stinner said farm sizes are increasing and the result is fewer people available to serve on irrigation district boards.

“Currently, it is common that a single farm can be larger in size than a district,” he said.

The bill specifies that in the case of land owned or leased by a corporation, trust or other legal entity, the entity would identify an elector-designee in writing not less than 30 days prior to an irrigation district election.

LB561 would provide a process for determining who is entitled to vote if two or more persons claim conflicting rights to vote on the same acreage. The bill also would allow irrigation districts, at their discretion, to conduct elections by mail.

Stinner said such elections would be more convenient for electors and encourage greater participation in irrigation district voting.

The bill advanced to select file 33-0.