LINCOLN, Neb. — A northeast Nebraska state legislator says Gov. Jim Pillen lacked the votes to call a special session for changing the state’s electoral voting system before the November election.
District 40 Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara experienced the statewide and national interest in changing Nebraska’s apportioned votes to “winner take all” which could decide the presidential race. “I have been contacted about (changing to) ‘winner-take-all’ by many people in my own district as well as from other parts of Nebraska, mostly Omaha,” he told the Press & Dakotan.
DeKay represents Knox, Cedar, Dixon, Holt, Antelope and northern Pierce counties. On Tuesday, Pillen announced he wasn’t calling a special session, which could hold major implications for the Electoral College and presidential outcome. Currently, only two states — Nebraska and Maine — award one electoral vote in the presidential race to the top vote-getter in each congressional district.
The overall state winner receives the other two electoral votes. In Nebraska, the Second District, which includes Omaha, has twice voted Democratic since the change to the apportioned votes was made in 1992. As a result, the district has become a Democratic “blue dot” in an otherwise “ruby red” Republican state.
The one electoral vote from Omaha could decide the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican. Under the current sys.
