The results of the local, state, and national elections on Tuesday, November 8 will have consequences for every United States resident. Whether it’s property taxes, school funding, abortion, book banning in schools and libraries, access to healthcare, labor laws, or Social Security sustainability, the bills that elected officials write, vote for, and the advisors and officials they appoint will make decisions that touch every person. But not every person who will be affected by these decisions has access to voting for the policymakers and ballot initiatives that will impact their lives.

“The biggest barrier for registering to vote is knowing how to do it,” said Gavin Geis, Executive Director of Common Cause Nebraska. “Where do I go? Who do I talk to? Fortunately, the Nebraska Secretary of State has a great voter registration system. However, many new US citizens don’t know whether they can register to vote, whether they are eligible. Those who formerly served felony convictions are often unaware that they become eligible to vote in Nebraska two years after they’ve served their sentence. Many people who exit the penal system avoid the whole voting system altogether because they don’t think they’re eligible. But after two years, they can vote just like everybody else.”

“There could be barriers related to experiencing homelessness and confusion on providing a residential address, selecting a political party affiliation, providing either an ID number or last four digits of a Social Security Number,” said Heather Engdahl, Voting Rights Field Manager for Civic Nebraska. “Also, the forms are only available in English and Spanish, which can cause confusion for voters whose primary language is not one of these two.”

On Election Day, citizens who are non-native English speakers continue to face obstacles to voting for the policies that will impact themselves, their families, and their communities. The US government requires all cities, counties, and states to provide ballots in languages other than English if a single-language group in that location numbers more than 10,000 people or is more than 5% of the voting-age population. Many states have laws that go above and beyond this minimum federal requirement, but Nebraska is not one of them.

“Nebraska should require ballots in different languages above the federal standards,” said Geis. “Populations are significant enough to offer ballots in many different languages. It’s unfortunate because many of these people are new citizens who can vote. However, people can go online to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s website and see Spanish language versions of all the ballots, including for counties that don’t have Spanish versions of paper ballots at the polling place. On Election Day, however, poll workers are the best resource. If any voter is confused or needs assistance voting, they are there to help.”

Transportation is an insurmountable barrier for many potential voters, particularly voters who have disabilities, elderly voters, and those who live in rural areas without public transportation. Even Nebraska’s largest cities lack adequate affordable, efficient, and accessible public transportation.

 “Getting to the polling place is the biggest challenge for many eligible voters. There’s a real feeling of ‘I can’t get there; there’s a financial, logistical, or accessibility barrier to all the options,” said Geis. “Free public transportation should be standard on Election Day. Transportation shouldn’t be the reason you don’t get to vote.”

“The significance of transportation insecurity and the connection to voting accessibility cannot be ignored,” said Lisa Johnson, the Director of Student Support Services for Nebraska Methodist Health System who is also the Program Coordinator for Share A Fare, a nonprofit organization that provides partial reimbursement for transportation expenses of people who are blind or low vision. “Transportation is expensive when using taxis or rideshare options like Uber and Lyft. When individuals are faced with the dilemma of either paying for transportation to or from a polling place or instead using those funds to pay for a trip to a medical appointment or the grocery store, the trip to the polling place may become cost-prohibitive.”

Johnson, who is blind herself, said that while Share A Fare helps to ease the inequitable financial burden of transportation many people with vision loss face, it’s only a partial solution. “Individuals who participate in the program are able to use program benefits to be reimbursed half of the cost of rides to and from the polling place. That does not fully address the transportation barrier, but it does attempt to ease the financial burden. In the future, Share A Fare is hoping to fully cover the cost of transportation for individuals traveling to and from a polling place.”

On a national level, the ride-hailing app Lyft announced that riders will be able to enter a discount code to receive 50% off the cost of one ride-share, bike-share, or scooter ride on Election Day. Riders can preload the code VOTE22 before Election Day and receive a discount of up to $10 on a ride to the polls.

While Omaha’s public transportation system, Metro, announced that anyone will be able to board a Metro bus, ORBT bus, or MOBY paratransit vehicle for free on Election Day, Lincoln’s StarTran has not made such an announcement. However, neither public transportation system covers all parts of the respective city it serves and service is often limited to one bus an hour, which can make getting to a polling place, voting, and taking another bus home take several hours.

According to Geis and Engdahl, getting time off work to vote is another challenge with which many voters must contend. “It’s a real barrier, because people need to work a job,” said Geis. “Taking time off is impossible for some workers. People dismiss that as a problem, but it is a legitimate issue that needs a solution.”

Nebraska state legislator Eliot Bostar introduced LB 577, which would have made Election Day a state holiday, thus giving many workers adequate time to vote. The bill would have also automatically registered citizens to vote when they got or renewed a driver’s license or state identification card and required the state to pay for return postage for mail-in ballots. Although the bill died in committee, Bostar has expressed interest in re-introducing the bill in 2023.

Many states have similar Automatic Voter Registration for citizens who are obtaining or renewing a driver’s license or state identification card. Many states also require state government agencies that serve marginalized populations, such as people with disabilities and people exiting the carceral system, to offer them the opportunity to register to vote.

“The trend we’re seeing is more states giving state government agencies the ability to register people to vote,” said Geis. “Automatic Voter Registration has been implemented in many states in the past ten years. We have lots of government agencies that interact with people in different ways, not just the DMV. We could be registering people to vote all along the path if we really wanted to.”

“Same day voter registration would allow voters to register or update their registration on Election Day,” said Engdahl. “This would be really helpful for voters that might miss the deadlines. Additionally, we could expand voting by mail. Policymakers could increase the amount of time that voters can request and receive their mailed ballot, allowing for more time to complete their ballot and get it returned. Finally, I would urge policymakers to increase the language accessibility of our voting process. Right now, only three counties are required to provide the instructions and ballots in English and Spanish. Many places in Douglas County do opt to provide bilingual instructions for voters at polling places because it is helpful to voters, but they’re not required to do this. If more counties were required to provide bilingual materials, this would be a step in the right direction for addressing language barriers.”

Many disability rights organizations also advocate for innovative alternatives to mail-in ballots, such as voting by secure website or app, which are options currently being considered by several states and municipalities. “While mail-in early voting may seem convenient, it is still not without challenges,” says Johnson. “I still require the assistance of a sighted person to make the selections. It becomes a privacy issue. I would hope that the person helping me would be honest and make the selections I ask them to make, but I never know.”

For this reason, even with difficulties finding transportation, many blind and low vision voters prefer to vote in person, as all polling places are required by federal law to have at least one voting machine that is accessible to people with vision and print disabilities. These machines offer magnification and voice-output software that allows people who are blind, low vision, or otherwise have print disabilities to vote privately. If early voting was also available via secure website, these citizens could also vote privately at home by using the adaptive technology on their computers.

Geis would like to see Nebraska get rid of the two-year waiting period between when a potential voter exits the penal system and when they are eligible to vote. “It causes confusion. There is no actual need for a gap between serving their time and re-entering the voting population. It’s arbitrary; what’s the difference it really makes? What purpose does it serve? Nothing. We could also do more to inform those who have served their sentences about what their rights are. It’s really quite hazy. You can reach out to different county offices and get different answers on what your rights are.”

Civic Nebraska has several initiatives to address challenges voters experience. “We work closely with voters to plan their preferred voting method (vote by mail, vote in person) and exactly how that will play out for them, considering their other obligations and priorities,” said Engdahl. “For voting on Election Day, we try to make sure the voter has considered each aspect of making it to the polls and getting their ballot cast. We provide resources via Election Central on our website with FAQs, an interactive map of the election drop boxes, and breaking down exactly what is on the ballot. We also work closely with the county election officials and Secretary of State’s office to coordinate support for voters.”

Common Cause Nebraska trains volunteers who go to polling places and look for places they can help voters, prevent problems, and troubleshoot problems as they arise. “They’re particularly helpful for disability access issues, such as helping people locate wide enough doors, ramps, and also providing what assistance we can to non-native English speakers, voters who seem confused, and so on,” said Geis. “The poll workers are there in an official capacity. Our volunteers are a supplemental source of help. They spot problems before they become a problem. Our volunteers also work with poll workers to address the problem or if there’s an issue with the polling place, they can address that as well. They pass info to legal experts who can reach out to county election commissioners.”

If voters do encounter problems at the polling place, both Engdahl and Geis recommend first speaking with the polling place workers who are trained to provide a variety of information and assistance.

Engdahl then recommends calling Civic Nebraska’s Election Protection Hotline at (402-890-5291) which is in contact with county and state offices to address concerns that arise. Alternatively, Common Cause and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights have a similar hotline voters can call at (866) OUR-VOTE.

Additional Voting Resources

Nebraska Secretary of State Voter Registration Portal: www.nebraska.gov/apps-sos-voter-registration/. Voters can register to vote, or change their name, address, or party affiliation. 

Nebraska Secretary of State 2022 General Sample Ballots: sos.nebraska.gov/elections/2022-general-sample-ballots. Voters can view the federal, state, and local election ballots they’ll be receiving in both English and Spanish.

Nebraska Voter Check/Information Lookup: www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/voterview. This tool allows voters to confirm their address, party association, the status of their absentee or provisional ballots, and polling place locations.

Civic Nebraska’s Election Central: www.civicnebraska.org/election-2022. This website offers information about statewide elections, addressing common challenges, and advocating for voters.

Vote 411: www.vote411.org. This comprehensive, one-stop website allows voters to check their voter registration status, find their polling place, view what’s on their ballot, and learn more about candidates.