The proposal to move the state to a winner-take-all allocation system appeared to be little more than a rumor until a last minute push by prominent Republicans. On Tuesday, Kirk sent a message on social media to urge Nebraska Republicans to act, and hours later, the governor voiced support for the change. Trump said that he supported the change. The former president wrote that the governor of Nebraska came out today with a strong letter in support of returning Nebraska's Electoral Votes to a Winner-Take-All System. It's right for Nebraska and most Nebraskans have wanted to return to this system for a long time. Nebraskans, please ask your senators to support this bill.
The Nebraska law dividing the state's electoral votes by congressional district has not been a subject of serious discussion during the legislative session this year and was not a priority of Pillen until Trump's allies began mounting a pressure campaign. The speaker of the Legislature seemed to close the door to acting on the matter this year. Arch said that the Nebraska Unicameral has a process that includes bill introduction, a committee hearing on every bill and the prioritization of the session's agenda. I can't schedule a bill that is still in committee.
Pressure from the public or the governor can change his mind. The State Capitol in Lincoln was the scene of a spirited debate on whether or not to attach the winner-take-all measure to another piece of legislation. When you realize you can't win with the current rules, you go back to the drawing board to change them. The political lines of the legislature became clear as the debate continued. Several lawmakers who objected to the proposal said there was nothing preventing Trump from winning the Omaha district. Come and get it.
The winner-take-all electoral vote measure was not attached to a broader government spending and policy bill. In 2020, Biden won one vote from Nebraska, a red state, and one from Maine, a blue state, in order to get the electoral votes from both states. Legislation is difficult to push at the 11th hour in Nebraska's unicameral legislature, the only one-house body of government. Nebraska Democratic chair Jane Kleeb said on Wednesday that previous attempts by some Republicans over the last 30 years have failed because Nebraskans want to keep their electoral system in place. We are proud of our unique electoral vote system and know all too well the economic benefits it brings to our state.
There are only a couple of days left in the session and new bills need to be introduced. Lippincolt told the Lincoln Journal Star that it was probably stalling in committee.
Republicans have tried to repeal this law before, but the proposal has been stuck in the committee without enough votes for a full vote. The Biden campaign has been looking at Omaha and its one electoral vote. One of Nebraska's three electoral votes could become critical if there is a tie between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as a result of the 2020 census changing the map.