Voting law takes step in right direction

Despite believing strongly in our system of government, some of us have our doubts about get-out-the-vote efforts.

While some see them as a vital, important effort, others wonder: Do we really want people who have to be persuaded to vote to actually go ahead and vote?

One thing both sides agree on, however, is that no one who wants to vote should be prevented from doing so by circumstanced beyond their control.

Thus, Tuesday's signing of LB401 by Gov. Dave Heineman should be encouragement to anyone who believes in participation government.

Lawmakers agreed, passing the measure earlier by 39-0.

"This is forward-thinking legislation that places a high priority on local control," Heineman said in a news conference.

One part of the law will allow the Secretary of State, with the consent of the affected county, to establish satellite-voting sites for the 20 days preceding the day of an election. These sites could be places such as shopping centers, government buildings, hospitals and on college campuses. Secretary of State John Gale says he plans to establish a pilot program soon.

That provision would seem to apply to more populated areas of the state, such as Lincoln or Omaha.

Of more interest of us in Greater Nebraska is a provision that allows counties with fewer than 7,000 residents to apply to the Secretary of State to conduct all elections by mail in any or all precincts in the county.

In case you haven't checked the census lately, that includes all counties in Southwest Nebraska except for Red Willow.

Mail-in voting should cut costs and reduce voter hardships in reaching the polls in sparsely populated precincts.

"Cherry County is an excellent example," Red Willow County Clerk Paulette Gerver said. "They have a humongous area to cover," she said.

Mail-in voting could also save money, with counties counting ballots with high-speed counting machines in a central location in the courthouse, instead of smaller individual machines at each polling place, she said.

The new law will also allow the Secretary of State to permit new methods of voting such as e-mail or fax. Current law requires absentee ballots to be returned by mail.

Older people, who may not be anxious to travel to the polls on an icy November voting day, make up a large portion of the voter base in our region of the state. Many of them have faithfully voted for decades, and should be denied that right because of impassable roads or dangerous streets.

There is still plenty of work to do in educating potential voters enough to motivate them to get involved with our system of guiding government, but the new law is a step in the right direction.