Election Day is here. For the past several weeks, Civic Nebraska has been sharing various election resources for voters. For your convenience, here they are all in one place on the eve of Election Day. If you haven’t yet, go vote, Nebraska!
Before you vote
›› Make a plan: Any unforeseen reasons on Nov. 5 – school, work, family, sudden illness, an accident – can prevent us from casting our ballots. Here are some things to consider, as well as a handy form to fill out, when making your plan to vote.
›› If you still need to deliver your early mail-in ballot: Because early mail-in ballots must be received by 8 pm CST on Election Day – received, not postmarked by – it’s too late to use the U.S. Mail for your ballot. Please drop off your ballot at your earliest convenience to a secure, official county dropbox. Here’s a map of every official dropbox in the state.
›› Check your early mail-in ballot’s status: If you used an early mail-in ballot to cast your vote this year, you can check its status here. Fill in your information at the top of the page, and you’ll be taken to another page to enter your birthdate. Ballot statuses are updated throughout the day. If you have concerns about your ballot, please call your county’s election commissioner so you can take appropriate action.
›› If you plan to deliver your early mail-in ballot on Election Day: DO NOT take it to your local polling place – it cannot be accepted there. You must deliver it via an official county dropbox.
On Election Day
›› Identification requirements: The Nov. 5, 2024, general election is Nebraska’s first general election with an identification mandate to cast a ballot. Here’s what you need to know about what IDs are accepted at Nebraska polling places, as well as exceptions to the law.
›› Understand electioneering laws: Election Day is exciting, but Nebraska law requires those within 200 feet of a polling place to refrain from wearing or sharing campaign paraphernalia. This means no “Blue Dot” shirts or “MAGA” hats when voting in person and no campaign signs greeting voters as they arrive to do their civic duty. Here’s more on the subject.
›› Roll to the polls: Several public and private transportation services in eastern Nebraska (and statewide) are reducing or waiving their ridership fees. Here’s a handful of free or discounted transportation resources, mainly in Lincoln and Omaha, on Nov. 5.
›› Lots of initiatives to keep straight: Nebraskans are voting on six separate ballot initiatives in 2024, regarding everything from abortion rights to legalizing medical cannabis. These initiatives’ language can be confusing. Decoding The Ballot is our nonpartisan resource that explains the roles, responsibilities, and compensation for elected offices on the general election ballot, and uses plain language to explain each ballot initiative.
›› Resources, rights, and reliable information: Knowledge is power, and many anxious moments created by intentional disinformation can be avoided via systems literacy. Here’s our Citizen’s Guide to 2024 Election Threats, which has a host of online resources from around the web to help voters weed through the inevitable noise – much of it false or agenda-driven – surrounding the election. Share this resource broadly, especially as we await vote counts from key states and districts, to keep the threat of election disinformation from taking hold.
›› Watch the votes come in: Starting at 8 pm CST on Nov. 5, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office will regularly update its Election 2024 results page. Follow key statewide races here.
Beyond Election Day
›› How the vote count – and associated threats – may play out around the nation: Protect Democracy, a group dedicated to building trust in our democratic processes, recently proposed how each swing state will manage a record-breaking vote count. Here’s our summary of the report and the report in its entirety. It’s a good outline of the coming week for election officials and hyper-engaged voters.
