On March 5, 2025, Civic Nebraska Director of Public Policy Heidi Uhing testified in opposition of LB541, which would would severely restrict voting by mail, eliminate online and mail-in voter registration, impose arbitrary hurdles on early voting, and force error-prone hand counts of ballots. Here is her testimony as prepared.
“Hello, Chairman Sanders and members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. I’m Heidi Uhing, public policy director for Civic Nebraska. Our organization advocates for a more modern and robust democracy, with free and fair elections.
“We have excellent election commissioners and county clerks who conduct elections on behalf of Nebraskans. If you haven’t yet toured one of the election offices in your district, I encourage you to do so. Each time I visit to learn more about their work, I am struck by their thoroughness and careful attention to detail. We have the right people on the job. That’s why, in MIT’s latest election performance index, Nebraska was elevated to the top five states for election integrity. That’s something we should all be proud of.
“That’s why it’s so disappointing to see bills like this come to your committee. Disinformation campaigns in recent years have fostered conspiracy theories that have led to segments of the population distrusting the election process, with themes as diverse as illegal immigrants voting, to dead voters, to stuffing drop boxes. Electoral fraud in the United States is extremely rare, according to various courts, election officials, audits and studies, including one review in Sarpy County that cost taxpayers $88,000. After investigating 52 affidavits claiming fraud in the 2020 general election and the 2022 primary elections, no voter fraud was found.
“The most important role in our democracy is that of the citizen. Our government is structured so that we may determine who is governing us. Attempts like this to retract the number of people voting are contrary to the goals of our democracy. They also contradict the tenets of good government. Why would we, according to the fiscal note, spend $1 million more on our state’s elections to drastically reduce the number of people participating in them?
“That is not effective and efficient governing, nor is it effective government to ignore modern uses of technology to provide conveniences to the public being served by these processes.
“For these reasons, we urge you not to advance LB541.”
