Lawmakers hold public hearing on competing voter ID bills

By MARGERY A. BECK
Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are considering competing bills to address ways to enact a voter ID requirement approved by voters last November. While voters approved the photo ID measure, it’s up to the Legislature to encode it into state law. Omaha Sen. Jen Day’s bill would offer a wide-range of identification that would satisfy the photo ID requirement, from driver’s licenses, state IDs and passports to student and government employment IDs. Two bills introduced by state Sen. Steve Erdman, of Bayard, go beyond simply requiring photo IDs to vote. One measure would cancel some fees to acquire IDs, but would also largely eliminate voting by mail.