Election provisions could change

Senators advanced a bill March 30 that would change election procedures and requirements.

LB499, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Scott Price, would:
• prohibit an elected official from running for the same office while he or she is in the middle of a term for the same office;
• require a candidate petitioning on the ballot to file a sample copy of the petition with the filing officer prior to circulating;
• require affidavits that remove a person’s name from a petition to be submitted by the time the petition is submitted for verification;
• require military voters to include absent voters in addition to overseas voters;
• harmonize deadline registrations between two statute sections; and
• require a voter who is present in his or her county on election day to vote at an assigned polling site.

Price said LB499 was brought by the secretary of state to address issues that arose during the past few election cycles.

A Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee amendment removed provisions from the bill that would have required that each sheet of petition signatures be from the same county and submitted as one document.

Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery, chairperson of the committee, said the requirement could be burdensome on petition circulators.

The committee amendment was adopted 31-0 and the bill advanced from general file on a 32-0 vote.