County office candidates could automatically advance

Senators gave first-round approval Jan. 14 to a bill that would allow for automatic advancement in the case of a small pool of candidates for county office.

Under LB56, if the number of county office candidates from each party in the primary election does not exceed the number of candidates that may be nominated by the party, those candidates automatically would advance to the general election.

O’Neill Sen. Tyson Larson, the sponsor of the bill, said it would benefit all 93 counties in the state.

“[Primary election ballots] represent money taken away from other areas in the county budget,” he said. “This would streamline the election process and lower overall costs associated with these elections.”

Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh supported the bill, calling automatic advancement a common, reasonable idea.

“Anything we can do to simplify an election when there is no opposition would be a significant cost saving for the county,” he said.

Hoskins Sen. Dave Bloomfield opposed the measure. He said there is value to placing the candidates’ names on the primary ballot, no matter how few.

“Sometimes in small county races, candidates’ names don’t get out until election day,” he said. “I firmly believe that we need to put everyone’s name out there who is interested in serving, even if unopposed, so voters know who will be running in the general election.”

Bloomfield introduced and later withdrew a motion to indefinitely postpone the bill.

Following the adoption of a technical amendment, senators voted to advance the bill to select file on a 28-5 vote.