On Wednesday, April 4th, the Nebraska State Legislature had a procedural vote that would have allowed lawmakers the opportunity to change the current Electoral College vote allocation system. This modification would be to change the framework to what most states have- a ‘winner-take-all’ system. Currently, Nebraska has 5 electoral votes, but they can be split up. The winner of the statewide vote is awarded two votes, and each of the 3 congressional districts awards votes as well. Nebraska and Maine are the only states that split their electoral votes. Nebraska altered the law in 1992 to motivate presidential candidates to visit the state more and increase national attention on Nebraska. In 1968, Bobby Kennedy campaigned hard in Nebraska and lawmakers at the time wanted this kind of attention again.
The recent motion to modify Nebraska’s electoral allocation was endorsed by several higher-ranking GOP members- U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R), Governor Jim Pillen (R), and former President Donald Trump. This motion gained traction after Turning Point USA founder and CEO, Charlie Kirk, started a social media campaign that drew millions of Americans to question the situation and garnered the opinion of multiple national politicians.
Predictably, this was not a priority for Ronna McDaniel…
🚨 SHOCK 🚨
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 3, 2024
Nebraska GOP Chair just EXPOSED Ronna McDaniel for REFUSING to help flip the states electoral votes for Trump.
He begged the former RNC Chair for help but Ronna told him giving Trump MORE electoral votes was “NOT that important”
Insane clip from Charlie Kirk Show: pic.twitter.com/TBPWvhNZPX
You’d think in lil’ ole’ conservative (mostly) Nebraska that something of this nature could be taken care of quickly. But you guessed it, the procedural motion failed. The Republican majority couldn’t even pass a motion to vote on it. Even in a mostly conservative state, the GOP still can’t get their poop in a group to effect change. Although Nebraska’s unicameral is officially nonpartisan, there are 49 total members of the legislature with 32 Republican members and 17 Democratic. State GOP lawmakers could only drum up 8 of the needed votes and 25 are needed for a majority.
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The GOP as a whole has been ineffectual for a long time. The RNC is in shambles (but making a comeback lately thanks to Lara Trump), Republican majority states are doing next to nothing concerning election fraud, amongst many other failings and misfortunes. We have the biggest election of our lifetime later this year and it seems like the tides aren’t as favorable as they should be.
Besides the Nebraska lawmakers not having the cajónes to do anything, this issue is deeper. Why does Nebraska have this split-vote system anyway? Doesn’t the act of splitting up the vote negate the Electoral College? The whole point is to give the states the power so that incongruent metropolitan areas aren’t deciding the president on their own. Splitting up electoral allocation into districts is a step closer to victory by popular vote for the presidential election. The metro area near Omaha will likely give their vote to the Democrat candidate. The winner-take-all vote is a necessity to keep what our founding fathers wanted for our country, to eliminate the possibility of mob rule through the popular vote. It is the essence of our Republic.
Another confusing factor in this already baffling mess is why it has taken this long for the change to be considered. This electoral vote split has happened twice already in Nebraska’s history. It would likely happen again in 2024. Governor Jim Pillen has been a pretty solid voice for Republicans since he took office in 2023. He has enacted constitutional carry, is working on lowering property taxes, and has enacted sturdy regulations on minors seeking gender-transforming surgeries, amongst other accomplishments. He has been viewed very favorably by the right but has had 15 months as governor to draw attention to this issue.
Every state, city, and town has its problems, but I think that most conservative Americans have a major fear that our election will be stolen again, and nothing is being done to prevent it from happening again. Getting Nebraska’s Electoral College vote to a winner-take-all system is a real, tangible step. The people want it, and it should be made a priority.
All in all, I wonder what is stopping the conservative party and its movement from flourishing and making real progress. It seems that Republican lawmakers act like they care but don’t give two shits. Many GOP members at both the state and national levels are more afraid to rock the boat than deliver to their constituent’s performance. It is more important to them to get views on the news for their brand awareness campaign and those sacred poll numbers.
After Trump lost the election in 2020 many republican politicians wouldn’t dare say the election was stolen. Are lawmakers and politicians still afraid to make that claim? They don’t want to seem like an election denier, so they simply don’t rock the boat and just pass their time along, never really, truly making a mark with their time in office. It is very clear that once again some of them just don’t have a spine.
References:
- Magazine, Smithsonian. “Why Do Maine and Nebraska Split Their Electoral Votes?” Smithsonian.com, November 5, 2020. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-do-maine-and-nebraska-split-their-electoral-votes-180976219/.
- “United States Presidential Elections in Nebraska.” Wikipedia, April 4, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_elections_in_Nebraska#:~:text=Since%201992%20Nebraska%20awards%20two%20electoral%20votes%20based,vote%20for%20each%20of%20the%20three%20congressional%20districts.
- Carrera, Abigail. “Bill Looking to Reinstate ‘winner-Take-All’ System in Nebraska Fails in Legislature.” https://www.1011now.com, April 4, 2024. https://www.1011now.com/2024/04/03/bill-looking-reinstate-winner-take-all-system-nebraska-draws-support-trump-gop-leaders/.
Images:
- Capitolist, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
- Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Video:
- “Why the Electoral College?” YouTube, September 25, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTZ0BYoXFyE.
Social Media:
- Johnson, Benny. “🚨 Shock 🚨Nebraska GOP Chair Just Exposed Ronna McDaniel for Refusing to Help Flip the States Electoral Votes for Trump.He Begged the Former RNC Chair for Help but Ronna Told Him Giving Trump More Electoral Votes Was ‘Not That Important’Insane Clip from Charlie Kirk Show: Pic.Twitter.Com/TBPWvhNZPX.” Twitter, April 3, 2024. https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1775655372415435156.
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