FAQs: Lincoln
Frequently asked questions about the April 8, 2025, citywide primary election and the May 6, 2025, citywide general election.
Election Dates
April 8 and May 6.
Lincoln will hold a citywide primary election on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. The city’s voters will choose which candidates will advance to the Tuesday, May 6, 2025, general election.
On April 8, Lincolnites will consider advancing candidates for Lincoln City Council, the Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education, and the Lincoln Airport Authority to the May 6 general election.
They also will weigh a ballot initiative regarding a quarter-cent sales tax to fund street repairs and maintenance.
Then, on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, Lincolnites will select which candidates they wish to serve on the Lincoln City Council, the Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education, and the Lincoln Airport Authority.
The May 6 general election ballot will also ask Lincolnites to ban source-of-income housing discrimination within the city.
Registration
Check your registration
Register to vote
If you are already registered to vote in Lincoln, you do not have to re-register for the 2025 elections.
If you registered for the primary, you do not need to re-register for the general election.
Primary election (April 8, 2025)
Register ONLINE by 11:59 pm CDT on March 21, 2025.
Register IN PERSON at the county election office, 601 N. 46th St., by 6 pm CDT on March 28, 2025.
General election (May 6, 2025)
Register ONLINE by 11:59 pm CDT on April 18, 2025.
Register IN PERSON at the county election office, 601 N. 46th St., by 6 pm CDT on April 25, 2025.
Go here to check — and then double-check. It takes 30 seconds.
When you register, you’ll receive a confirmation card in the U.S. Mail from your county’s election commissioner. This card has your personal information and the location of your polling place on it. If you receive this card and this information is not included, please contact your county’s election commission.
As a college student, you are not required to re-register at your school’s address if you wish not to. Temporary leaves from your home city do not require a change in voter registration. That said, it’s up to you! If you wish to re-register to vote in the city where you go to college, that’s your right, and you can certainly do so. Speak with the Lancaster County Election Commission for details.
Voting by mail
Yes. If you wish to vote early by mail – and any registered voter in our state can do so for any reason – you must first fill out a request for that ballot.
Voters must complete and sign the application portion of the mailing and return it to their election commission office to receive a ballot by mail.
›› No. You do not need to provide a reason to get a mail-in ballot. Nebraska is a “no excuse” state, meaning we place no unnecessary burdens on showing why you want to request an early ballot.
Only your first request will be processed. Anything else will be discarded. Our election systems have guardrails against sending out multiple ballots to the same person – you can’t, for example, send in three requests for a mail-in ballot, and then get three ballots. If you send in three requests for a mail-in ballot, only the first one counts. You will only get one ballot.
First, know that voting by mail is extremely secure. If you want to be absolutely sure that your ballot is received as quickly as possible, you can always take it to your county dropbox anytime before 8 pm CDT on Election Day. You can track the status of your ballot here.
* DO NOT TAKE YOUR EARLY BALLOT TO YOUR LOCAL POLLING PLACE ON ELECTION DAY. It must be placed in a secure county dropbox by 8 pm CST. Find the nearest dropbox here.
In-person voting
All Nebraska counties offer in-person early voting, which starts a month before Election Day and ends on the Monday before the election.
If you choose to vote in person, you can head to your polling place anytime from 8 am to 8 pm CDT on both April 8 (Primary Election Day) and May 6 (General Election Day) to cast your ballot. Find your polling place here.
Yes. Nebraska law allows workers time off to vote in certain circumstances. If you are scheduled to work the 12 hours when the polls are open, you can take up to two consecutive hours off to vote. If you apply for this time off before or even on Election Day, your employer can’t punish you or subtract wages on account of your absence. Under the law, your employer is also entitled to specify the hours when you can be gone from work to vote. Work in advance with your employer to ensure you are given time to get to the polls. It’s your right.
Yes, yes — by all means, yes! Stay in line. You must be allowed to vote – as long as you are in line by 8 p.m. CDT.
Electioneering
Here is how Nebraska law defines electioneering, which is a Class V misdemeanor (maximum fine: $100):
›› The deliberate, visible display or audible or physical dissemination of information for the purpose of advocating for or against:
(i) Any candidate on the ballot for the election at which such display or dissemination is occurring;
(ii) Any elected officeholder of a state constitutional office or federal office at the time of the election at which such display or dissemination is occurring;
(iii) Any political party on the ballot for the election at which such display or dissemination is occurring; or
(iv) Any measure on the ballot for the election at which such display or dissemination is occurring.
›› No judge or clerk of election or precinct or district inspector shall do any electioneering while acting as an election official.
›› No person shall do any electioneering or circulate petitions within any polling place or any building designated for voters to cast ballots by the election commissioner or county clerk pursuant to the Election Act while the polling place or building is set up for voters to cast ballots or within two hundred feet of any such polling place or building.
›› No person shall do any electioneering within two hundred feet of any secure ballot dropbox.
The only exception is if campaign/candidate paraphernalia is on someone’s private property, and that private property is less than 200 feet from the entrance of a polling place.
Claims of electioneering are common on Election Day. Before notifying law enforcement, please review the statute to be sure what you see is, by the letter of the law, actually electioneering. The general rule is that petitions, campaign signs, and other campaign paraphernalia should be at least 200 feet from a polling place.
A free, democratic society requires each voter to have the right to cast his or her ballot free from intimidation or coercion. Voter intimidation is illegal. Federal law specifically prohibits:
›› Intimidation, threats, or coercion – or attempted intimidation, threats, or coercion – of others, “for the purpose of interfering with” someone’s right to vote, or to vote as they may choose.
›› Willfully injuring, intimidating, or interfering with any person because they are voting or have voted, or to intimidate anyone to not vote.
Also, Section 2 of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act makes it a federal crime for two or more people to “conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat” any voter from casting a ballot for the candidate of their choice.
Nebraska, like all U.S. states, has separate prohibitions on interfering with or intimidating voters.
Ballot access
This is serious business, and we should know about it right away. If you have been denied a ballot for any reason, we encourage you to contact Civic Nebraska’s Election Protection Line at 402.890.5291, via email at in**@ci***********.org; or via Facebook, Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn, BlueSky, or X.
Yes. Valid photographic identification will be required to vote in Nebraska. Visit our Voter ID in Nebraska page for the types of IDs that are accepted to vote, as well as information on how to obtain a valid ID.
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