As Seward residents prepare to cast their special election ballots for the LB840 Local Option Municipal Economic Development Act renewal, resident concerns have resurfaced about the validity of elections conducted by mail.
The LB840 program allows the City of Seward to set aside up to $150,000 per year of sales tax revenue for economic development purposes. The program must be renewed every 10 years but does not generate any additional tax. It comes from what the city already collects.
County Clerk and Election Commissioner Sherry Schweitzer said her office fields questions each time a special election comes up.
It is part of her job to determine whether a special election will be conducted in-person at a polling place or by mail.
Special elections differ from primary and general elections when it comes to how voters get a ballot. For an all-mail election, voters do not go to a polling place, and they do not have to request an absentee ballot – they get one automatically.
“I have to do analysis of cost when I ask the Secretary of State’s office for permission to hold the election by mail,” Schweitzer said. “I estimated that the cost per voted ballot for a mail-in election would be around $5.06. The cost per voted ballot for a polling place election was estimated at $8.06.”
Those costs include everything associated with the election, from printing the ballots to postage and staff time.
For the LB840 election, Schweitzer’s office will send about 4,500 ballots.
The election will cost the City of Seward between $10,000 and $15,000. It will be paid for through the existing LB840 Fund.
Schweitzer said she doesn’t always center her decision on cost.
“I have learned through my experience that convenience is the name of the game,” she said. “Voters like being able to have their ballot at home to take their time to read the issue and not be hurried at the polling booth. Then they can submit their ballot on their own schedule, not having to make sure they go to a polling place on a certain day.”
Nebraska’s Legislative Research Office notes that every state in the U.S. allows some form of voting by mail, and five states – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah – conduct all of their elections entirely by mail.
Eleven counties in Nebraska with populations under 10,000 conduct all of their elections by mail instead of at polling places.
The Nebraska Secretary of State’s office shows voter turnout increases by as much as 20% for elections conducted by mail because it’s more convenient and also allows those who are physically unable to get to a polling place easier access.
“Statistics show that a mail-in election always has better turnout,” Schweitzer said.
Seward County offers a drop box on the north side of the courthouse for voters to return their ballots if they don’t want to mail them. They can also bring them directly to Schweitzer’s office, located on the second floor of the courthouse.
Schweitzer said the drop box is being used more and more with each election.
“We check the box two times each day and check every signature on the envelope that a ballot is returned in,” she said. “If we feel there is a question about a signature, we will call them to make sure they voted their ballot. We take extreme measures to make sure your vote is confidential, safe and secure.”
The Legislative Research Office shows mail-in elections have no significant effect on voter fraud, noting that it’s rare because of the processes states have developed to prevent theft and forgery of ballots.
“Recently, I was asked if I am worried about fraud for the Seward election since I am having it by mail,” Schweitzer said. “I responded by telling them the extreme measures we take to ensure the ballots cast are secure. I told them we check every signature on the return envelope to make sure it matches their registration and if not, we actually call the voter. I said how we secure the courthouse drop box and how we make sure that when we open the envelopes that the ballots are in, we do it a certain way to make sure we do not see how someone voted.”
The ballot is removed and separated from the envelope, and there is no way to know which ballot came out of which envelope, she said.
“That person was amazed by the extreme measures we take. I ask anybody who has questions about voting to please call my office for answers,” Schweitzer said. “I have been involved in elections for 45 years and I can assure you, nothing has changed in those years. Security and confidentiality has always been one of the most important parts of election administration.”
Registered voters will receive a ballot by mail beginning Nov. 21 and will have until Dec. 12 to return the ballot to the county clerk’s office.
A voter may not receive a ballot if their registration is not up-to-date or if they recently moved.
The deadline to update voter registration online or by mail is Nov. 24. The last day for in-person updates is Dec. 1. The clerk’s office will be open until 6 p.m. that day.
Ballots must be returned to the clerk’s office by 5 p.m. on Dec. 12. Those returning ballots by mail should allow enough time for delivery.
Voters who do not receive a ballot but believe they should have may call the clerk’s office at (402) 643-2883.
