Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB76                                                                     LB76
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                             LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                         ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
                                  FIRST SESSION
                       LEGISLATIVE BILL 76
       Introduced by Slama, 1.
       Read first time January 07, 2021
       Committee: Government, Military and Veterans Affairs
   A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to presidential electors; to amend sections
      32-710, 32-713, 32-714, and 32-1038, Reissue Revised Statutes of
      Nebraska; to change apportionment of Nebraska's electoral college
      votes; and to repeal the original sections.
   Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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LB76                                                                                               LB76
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         Section 1. Section 32-710, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
         32-710 Each political party shall hold a state convention biennially
   on a date to be fixed by the state central committee but not later than
   September 1. Candidates for elective offices may be nominated at such
   conventions pursuant to section 32-627 or 32-721. Such nominations shall
   be certified to the Secretary of State by the chairperson and secretary
   of the convention. The certificates shall have the same force and effect
   as nominations in primary elections. A political party may not nominate a
   candidate at the convention for an office for which the party did not
   nominate a candidate at the primary election except as provided for new
   political parties in section 32-621. The convention shall formulate and
   promulgate a state platform, select a state central committee, select
   electors for President and Vice President of the United States, and
   transact the business which is      properly before it.    One presidential
   elector shall be    chosen from each congressional district,      and two
   presidential electors shall be chosen at large. The officers of the
   convention shall certify the names of the electors to the Governor and
   Secretary of State.
         Sec. 2. Section 32-713, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
   amended to read:
         32-713 (1) The certificates of appointment for presidential electors
   shall be served by the Governor on each person appointed. The Governor
   shall notify the presidential electors to be at the State Capitol at noon
   on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in    December after
   appointment and report to the Governor at his or her office in the
   capitol as being in attendance. The Governor shall serve the certificates
   of appointment by   registered or    certified mail.    In submitting this
   state's certificate of ascertainment as required by 3 U.S.C. 6, the
   Governor shall certify this state's presidential electors and state in
   the certificate that:
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          (a) The presidential electors will serve as presidential electors
   unless a vacancy occurs in the office of presidential elector before the
   end of the meeting at which the presidential electors cast their votes,
  in which case a substitute presidential elector will fill the vacancy;
  and
          (b) If a substitute presidential elector is appointed to fill a
   vacancy, the Governor will submit an amended certificate of ascertainment
  stating the names on   the final list of    this state's presidential
  electors.
          (2) The presidential electors shall convene at 2 p.m. of such Monday
   at the Governor's office in the capitol. Each presidential elector shall
   execute the following pledge: As a presidential elector duly selected (or
   appointed) for this position, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for
   President and Vice President for the presidential and vice-presidential
   candidates who received the highest number of votes in the state if I am
   an at-large presidential elector or the highest number of votes in my
  congressional district if I am a congressional district presidential
  elector.
         Sec. 3. Section 32-714, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
         32-714 (1) The Governor shall provide each presidential elector with
   a list of all the presidential electors. If any presidential elector is
   absent or if there is a deficiency in the proper number of presidential
   electors, those present shall elect from the citizens of the state so
  many persons as   will supply the deficiency and immediately issue   a
  certificate of election, signed by those present or a majority of them,
  to the person or persons so chosen. In case of failure to elect as
   required in this subsection by 3 p.m. of such day or in case of a vacancy
   created under subsection (4) of this section, the Governor shall fill the
  vacancies by appointment. Each appointee shall execute the pledge in
  section 32-713. After all vacancies are filled, the presidential electors
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  shall proceed with the election of a President of the United States and a
  Vice President of the United States and certify their votes in conformity
  with the Constitution and laws of the United States.
         (2) The Secretary of State shall provide each presidential elector
  with    a presidential and vice-presidential ballot.      Each at-large
  presidential elector shall mark his or her ballot for the presidential
  and vice-presidential candidates who received the highest number of votes
  in the state and consistent with his or her pledge. Each congressional
  district presidential elector shall mark his or   her ballot for the
  presidential and vice-presidential candidates who received the highest
  number of votes in his or her congressional district and consistent with
  his or her pledge.
          (3) Each presidential elector shall present the completed ballot to
   the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall examine each ballot
   and accept as    cast each ballot marked by    a presidential elector
  consistent with his or her pledge. The Secretary of State shall not
   accept and shall not count the ballot if the presidential elector has not
  marked the ballot or has marked the ballot in violation of his or her
  pledge.
         (4) A presidential elector who refuses to present a ballot, who
  attempts to present an unmarked ballot, or who attempts to present a
   ballot marked in violation of his or her pledge vacates the office of
   presidential elector.
         Sec. 4. Section 32-1038, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
  amended to read:
         32-1038   (1)    The board of    state canvassers shall authorize the
   Secretary of State to open the abstracts of votes from the various
   counties and prepare an abstract stating the number of ballots cast for
   each office, the names of all the persons voted for, for what office they
   respectively received the votes, and the number of votes each received.
  The abstract shall be signed by the members of the board and shall have
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LB76                                                                                           LB76
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   the seal of the state affixed by the Secretary of State. The canvass of
   the votes for candidates for President and Vice President of the United
   States and the return thereof shall be a canvass and return of the votes
   cast for the presidential electors of   the same party or   group of
   petitioners respectively, and the certificate of such election made by
   the Governor shall be   in accord with such return.   Receipt by    the
   presidential electors of a party or a group of petitioners of the highest
   number of votes statewide shall constitute election of the two at-large
   presidential electors of that party or group of petitioners. Receipt by
   the presidential electors of a party or a group of petitioners of the
   highest number of votes in a congressional district shall constitute
   election of the congressional district presidential elector of that party
   or group of petitioners.
          (2) The board of state canvassers shall determine from the completed
   abstract the names of   those candidates who have been nominated or
   elected. If any two or more persons are returned with an equal and the
   highest number of votes, the board of state canvassers shall decide by
   lot which of such persons is elected except for officers elected to the
   executive branch. The board of state canvassers shall also declare those
   measures carried which have received the required percentage of votes as
   provided by law.
          Sec. 5.      Original sections 32-710, 32-713, 32-714, and 32-1038,
   Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, are repealed.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 32-710, 32-713, 32-714, 32-1038