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LINCOLN — An annual cleanup bill for elections was held up briefly Tuesday by State Sen. Beau Ballard’s proposal to let people living outside of Lincoln’s city limits vote in city elections.
The Lincoln lawmaker tried to tack a skinny version of his Legislative Bill 951 onto State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue’s Legislative Bill 1075, an annual update to the state’s election law. After it became clear that Ballard’s proposal wouldn’t be considered before cloture, he withdrew his amendment.
“It’s not to dilute votes, it’s not to sway mayoral or city council elections,” said Ballard before withdrawing from his amendment. “I believe that this is taxation without representation.”
Ballard said cities can tell people who live outside their limits what “they can do with their private property” without any say in who serves on the city council or who is the mayor.
Proposal to let nonresidents vote in Omaha, Lincoln elections advances in auditor oversight bill
This proposal would focus only on Lincoln, allowing people living within the 3-mile zoning jurisdiction of the city but outside the city limits to vote in city elections. A previous version of Ballard’s bill included Omaha and Lincoln, two cities led by Democratic-majority city councils and Democratic mayors. That proposal was added to a bill by State Sen. Bob Andersen of Sarpy County to give the Nebraska state auditor easier oversight of no-bid state contracts.
Andersen’s original auditor-focused proposal was added to a different bill without Ballard’s provision, as some on the Legislature’s Government, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee described Ballard’s elections language as a “poison pill.”
State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha said Ballard’s proposal is a “sledgehammer when a fly swatter is needed” for people who live in extraterritorial zoning jurisdictions, who don’t feel their voices are heard on the city’s zoning board. He said there were other solutions.
Others said they have concerns about people outside the city getting to vote in city elections without paying city property taxes. After the Ballard amendment was withdrawn, Sanders’ election bill advanced by voice vote.
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