Nebraska senators told state's election security is the 'gold standard'

LINCOLN — In spite of repeated assurances that Nebraska offers the "gold standard" in election security compared to the rest of the nation, state lawmakers spent more than three hours Thursday questioning whether more could be done to shore up the state's defenses.

The Nebraska Legislature's Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee held a public hearing on Legislative Resolution 357, brought by State Sen. Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, which seeks to determine if there is a need to bolster election security.

Concerns about voter fraud rose after the 2020 presidential election, driven in part by former President Donald Trump's unfounded claims that the election was rigged. Nebraska's elections officials have repeatedly said that there was no credible evidence of widespread fraud in the state. Officials across the nation and in other states have provided similar assurances.

Holdcroft, however, said his resolution is not meant to rehash concerns about past elections, but to give Nebraskans more confidence that future elections are safe and secure. While he said he has confidence in the state's elections, he raised several concerns about areas he believes should be improved, particularly regarding mail-in voting.

He said the number of mail-in ballots submitted in Nebraska's elections has "exploded" in some counties, in part because of eligibility expansions during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the signatures required on mail-in ballots do not provide enough fraud prevention, and don't comply with the state's new voter ID measure.

In 2022, voters passed a ballot measure that required voter ID statewide. This year's primary election was the first time the new law took effect, and Deputy Secretary of State Wayne Bena claimed it was one of the most successful implementations of such a law in the U.S., reporting that fewer than 80 voters statewide did not bring their IDs to their polling locations. In order to file a mail-in ballot, voters must first submit an application that includes their ID numbers.

Holdcroft said he would support limiting the eligibility of mail-in voting to only allow people with "a valid excuse" to do so.

"Voting by mail is a privilege, not a right," Holdcroft said.

Several Nebraska counties with fewer than 10,000 residents run elections exclusively through mail-in ballots, and some of them did so before the pandemic.

Holdcroft said he doesn't have an issue with smaller counties using all-mail voting, nor does he have an issue with military members mailing in ballots. His concern is in larger areas like Douglas County, where Election Commissioner Brian Kruse said approximately 125,000 residents prefer voting by mail.

Kruse, who testified at the hearing, said a majority of Douglas County residents who vote by mail submit their ballots via drop boxes, which are monitored by cameras 24/7. Election workers pick up the ballots delivered to those boxes and bring them directly to their office, he said.

Seward County also uses drop boxes for mail-in ballots, according to County Clerk Sherry Schweitzer. She said she was unsure how the boxes could be used for fraudulent voting given the current safeguards in place.

Some concerns about election integrity also focus on the use of technology, particularly in machines used to submit ballots or count votes. Chris Wlaschin, senior vice president of Omaha-based company Election Systems & Software — which supplies election equipment to multiple states, including Nebraska — said there have been zero attacks on their machines that would have changed the results of an election.

Wlaschin said Nebraska's election systems are safe, primarily because the state employs experienced election clerks, and a majority of voters fill out paper ballots, which is easier for auditing.

"We do elections right here, in this state," Wlaschin said.

Wlaschin said his company has complied with forensic audits on their equipment in other states, and would comply with a similar audit in Nebraska if lawmakers wished for one.

Lawmakers express doubts

Despite the repeated assurances from testifiers, committee members expressed doubts. After Kruse detailed the multi-step process his office takes in counting votes and sending them to the Secretary of State's Office, Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings said he believed there were vulnerabilities.

Bena noted that each step offers a paper trail where elections officials can print out information and double-check accuracy. Before the end of an election night, he said workers also verify their final reports with their records.

Halloran at one point attempted to negotiate with Bena on an audit of his office, proposing his own "ethical hacker" to do it. Bena would not commit to such an audit, saying his office would need to vet the conductor first.

Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue asked Kruse if it would ever be possible to return to the days when Nebraska ran its elections without the use of voting machines. Kruse estimated the last time Nebraska did that was in the late '90s, and said doing so now would likely be extremely difficult, upset voters and invite multiple lawsuits.

Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln questioned the point of Holdcroft's resolution, given that he admitted he has not seen any credible evidence of voter fraud in Nebraska. She warned lawmakers against "perpetuating myths and misinformation" about mail voting, claiming it was a form of voter suppression.

Bena also cautioned against questioning election security with no evidence, referencing an incident earlier this week where his office received a suspicious envelope that was ultimately found to contain nonhazardous material, but was meant to intimidate.

He said "unreasonable expectations" about election systems can pose dangers to election workers, and asked that future attempts at changes start with acknowledging that Nebraska has the "gold standard" in election security, unless there is evidence shown that proves otherwise.

Halloran said the burden of proof lies with elections officials to show there is nothing amiss, not with the people who have concerns. Bena answered that by saying his office has provided that proof.

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