Nebraska is among 38 states in the nation with some form of voter ID requirement.
The first election to mandate Nebraska voters present valid photo identification to cast their ballot was the May 2024 primary election. Two years later, confusion around the law persists.
Here is everything you need to know about voter identification in Nebraska and how it came to be.
What IDs count?
As determined by the state legislature, acceptable voter IDs in Nebraska must include your name and photo, and must have been issued by the State of Nebraska, the federal government, a Nebraska college or university, or a hospital/assisted living facility.
Acceptable forms of ID include:
- Nebraska driver’s license (from DMV — receipt also counts)
- Nebraska state ID (from DMV— receipt also counts)
- Nebraska college ID (public or private)
- Nebraska political subdivision ID (state, county, city, public school, etc.)
- United States (U.S.) Passport
- Military ID
- Tribal ID
- Hospital, assisted-living facility or nursing home record
Forms of ID not accepted include:
- Birth certificate
- Medicare or Medicaid card
- Out-of-state driver’s license
- Out-of-state college ID
- Social Security card
- Store membership card
- Utility bill
- Bank statement
- Voter registration acknowledgement card
IMPORTANT: Expired IDs are still valid for voter ID purposes, as long as they include the voter’s name and photo. Valid voter IDs do not need an expiration date. Valid voter IDs do not need your current address.
Active-duty military members, active-duty spouses and overseas voters covered by UOCAVA, who are outside of Nebraska, are not required to present photo ID. But military members and spouses stationed/registered to vote in Nebraska are required to present a photo ID.
What if I don’t have an ID?
If you don’t possess any form of acceptable ID listed above, you can get a free state ID from the Nebraska DMV.
If you cannot obtain an acceptable form of photo ID, you can file a reasonable impediment certification (RIC) form and vote on a provisional ballot.
Reasonable impediments include:
- Inability to obtain an acceptable form of ID due to disability or illness.
- Lack of birth certificate or other required documents and an inability to obtain them without significant difficulty or expense.
- Religious objection to being photographed.
Your ballot will be counted if the provisional envelope and RIC form are complete, and the signature matches the voter’s registration record.
A RIC form must be completed each time a voter casts a ballot, regardless of long-term disability or religious exemption.
If you have an acceptable ID, but forget to bring it to your polling place, you can still vote through a provisional ballot, but you must show your ID to your county election office within one week after the election for your vote to be counted.
A photocopy or image of your acceptable photo ID will not be accepted. You must present the original ID to vote.
For more information on voter ID, visit the Nebraska Secretary of State’s website.
Nebraskans have plenty to vote on this fall. Here are some key races to follow.
Nebraska Voter ID: A brief history
For decades, voter registration was all that was needed to vote in Nebraska and the state evaded new laws requiring voter ID. But this wasn’t due to a lack of trying.
Following the landmark 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, in which the Court upheld photo ID requirements in Indiana, a “flurry” of new voter ID legislation flooded state legislatures throughout the country. In 2012 alone, voter ID legislation was introduced in 32 states.
Nebraska was among them.
State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont introduced legislation to require voter ID in Nebraska in 2011 and 2013. His initial proposal (LB 239) failed to gain traction until 2012 where it narrowly died to a filibuster. Janssen renewed his effort in 2013 with LB 381, which also failed to advance from committee and weny nowhere in 2014.
Janssen, a registered Republican, went on to serve as the State Auditor under then-governor Pete Ricketts’ administration from 2015 to 2023.
The debate resurfaced in 2017, when Sen. John Muraunte of Gretna aimed to place the question of voter ID before votes with a constitutional amendment. That measure died to a filibuster that year and in 2018.
Muraunte, a registered Republican, went on to serve as the State Treasurer from 2019 to 2023, also under the Ricketts administration and briefly under current Gov. Jim Pillen.
Fast forward to July 2021, a ballot committee named “Citizens for Voter ID” filed what would become Initiative 432. The campaign was led by then-state Sen. Julie Slama, Republican National Committeewoman Lydia Brasch, and former state senator and former Douglas County Republican Chairwoman Nancy McCabe.
Aided in no small part by bankroll of over $2 million, primarily funded by Marlene Ricketts, the mother of Pete Ricketts, the campaign was successful and qualified for the November 2022 ballot.
Nebraska voters approved Initiative 432 with 65% support, amending the state constitution to require voters to present photo identification. The measure, however, purposely did not specify what forms of photo ID qualify. That determination was made by state lawmakers in 2023 with LB 514.
And in a strange twist that only the county’s lone unicameral legislature could offer, just one lawmaker voted against the bill: Julie Slama. She argued the bill did not go far enough.
Now, per the state’s constitution, voter ID is the new norm. Nebraskans must present an acceptable form of photo ID before casting a ballot in every primary, general and special election.
In the first election with voter ID requirements, May 2024, Secretary of State Bob Evnen reported “smooth operations.”
In the November 2024 general election, Nebraska Examiner reported that 345 votes weren’t counted due to the ID requirement. While this rejection-rate was notedly lower than in similar states, groups focused on voter advocacy pointed to tight races—such as Legislative District 13 that year—with razor thin margins of less than 200 votes.
At this time there is no pending legislation related to voter ID under consideration in Nebraska.
