Nebraska se encuentra entre al menos 14 estados que promulgaron restricciones al voto el año pasado con la aprobación de una ley de identificación de votantes. La próxima semana, un comité legislativo abordará otro proyecto de ley que restringiría ciertos derechos de voto en el estado. LB 1211 reduciría el tiempo que los votantes tienen para recibir, completar y devolver las boletas de voto en ausencia, o votar anticipadamente en persona, de 35 días a 22. Heidi Uhing, del grupo Civic Nebraska, cuestiona la lógica de condensar el tiempo de los funcionarios electorales para procesar las boletas, especialmente ahora, cuando se están preparando para las primeras elecciones del estado que requieren identificación de los votantes.

"Para asegurarse de que todos sus nuevos procesos estén detallados en sus manuales y que todo esté en orden en cuanto a los nuevos formularios y sobres que deben proporcionar a los votantes. Y realizar mucha capacitación y contratación interna para garantizar que las personas estén realmente al tanto de todos los matices de esa política," explicó también Uhing.

Quienes se oponen al voto por correo y a la votación anticipada creen que aumentan el fraude electoral, aunque la evidencia no respalda esta afirmación. Menos del 0,5% de las boletas por correo de Nebraska en las elecciones intermedias de 2022 fueron rechazadas. La primera audiencia del proyecto de ley es el 14 de febrero a la 1:30 pm en el Comité de Asuntos Gubernamentales, Militares y de Veteranos.

Uhing argumenta que las personas tienen diferentes razones para preferir votar por correo, incluido el tiempo de viaje a las urnas, conflictos con el horario de trabajo y tener más tiempo para pensar en su voto.

"Creo que la gente realmente se ha involucrado en este tipo de votación y la ha encontrado beneficiosa de diversas maneras. Y no creo que sea asunto del estado limitar realmente las opciones disponibles para nuestros votantes, cuando en lo que deberíamos centrarnos es en como podemos hacer esto mas conveniente y eficiente para ellos," insistió además Uhing.

La comisionada electoral del condado de Cherry, Brittny Longcor, dice que 13 días menos podrían marcar una gran diferencia a la hora de enviar por correo las boletas de voto en ausencia y recibirlas a tiempo. Pero ella cree que el cambio sería especialmente problemático para los condados de alta población del estado.

"Al igual que en el condado de Douglas, causará una escasez de tiempo para el procesamiento, ya sabes, tenemos alrededor de 4,000 aquí, mientras que ellos tienen cientos de miles para procesar," detalló Longcor.

El condado de Cherry, con una población de aproximadamente 5.500 habitantes, tiene todas las votaciones por correo. Nebraska permite esto para los condados con poblaciones de menos de 10.000 habitantes.

Apoyo para esta historia fue proporcionado por la Carnegie Corporation of New York


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With the election six weeks away, concern is building about attempts to intimidate voters at the polls - so, lawmakers are taking action at the state and federal levels.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the PEACE Act, which makes California the first state in the nation to state explicitly that openly carrying a gun in or near a polling place constitutes illegal harassment.

Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights Program for the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice, said the measure is important.

"It represents some really commonsense principles. All voters, all election workers, should be able to participate and run our democracy free from intimidation. And visible guns around our elections are intimidating," he said.

A recent survey of election workers from the Brennan Center found that 40% report being subject to threats, abuse, or harassment.

On Wednesday, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced a bill to ban open carry of firearms in polling places nationwide - noting the country has a long history of scare tactics on Election Day.

"There's individuals out there, stoked by partisan rhetoric and false narratives about election fraud, that have taken it upon themselves to either discourage at a minimum, or sometimes outright intimidate people into not letting their voice be heard in the democratic process," Padilla said.

Both political parties plan to have poll watchers present this year. The Brennan Center has set up a hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE for people to report any efforts to intimidate voters or election workers.


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Illinois voters have several ways to cast their ballot in the upcoming election, whether by mail, in person or early voting.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a political watchdog, reported 2022's general election produced the second-highest voter turnout in a midterm year in 25 years.

Matt Dietrich, public information officer for the Illinois State Board of Elections, wants voters to observe important deadlines for registering to vote. For unregistered voters, he advised there is still time to change their status.

"Voter registration never closes until the polls close on Election Day," Dietrich pointed out. "You can get registered from now right up through and even on November 5th. The online voter registration stays open until 11:59 pm, October 20th."

Voter inquiries can be answered through an online portal on the board's website, elections.il.gov.

Beginning Oct. 9, unregistered voters wanting in-person voting can do so at any early voting location. Dietrich added they will have to cast their early vote ballot at the time of registration.

Two forms of verifiable identification are needed, one which reflects who you are and the other, your voting residence. If you have recently moved to Illinois from another state, an unexpired out-of-state driver's license is accepted. A piece of government mail sent to your residence, a bank statement, or a pay stub with your voting residence is also sufficient.

Another popular choice among Illinoisans is to vote by mail. There was a "slight uptick of 10%," Dietrich reported, even before the pandemic in 2020. He added 2 million people tried it for the first time and deemed the process as safe, convenient and trackable.

"We and all the local election authorities really pushed voting by mail for safety reasons," Dietrich explained. "In the end, we had one-third of the total votes in 2020, cast by mail, about one-third cast early in person and one-third cast on Election Day in person."

Dietrich said in 2022, voting by mail slightly exceeded the number of voters who were voting early in person. He recommends residents wanting to cast mail-in ballots request their ballot far before the Oct. 31 deadline.

New Mexico volunteers will test the "butterfly effect" this Saturday as they perform small actions meant to produce monumental change.

Civic and nonprofit groups have enlisted volunteers to help plant food for monarch butterflies and other pollinators in the Bosque, a cottonwood forest bordering the Rio Grande. Organizers said the area's lush grass meadows and native milkweeds make it the perfect launchpad to expand pollinator habitat.

Emily Rees, Southwest restoration ecologist at the Institute for Applied Ecology, said teams will plant more than a thousand native perennial plants grown from wild-collected seeds.

"The overall project is 16 sites along a 200-mile stretch of the Rio Grande from north of Taos all the way down to Socorro," Rees outlined. "We are planting seven of those this year, and then we'll do the additional nine next year."

Rees pointed out New Mexico's 300-mile Bosque, which means "woods" or "forest" in Spanish, provides an oasis of valuable resources for animals and plants living in an otherwise arid Southwest habitat. To prepare for the event, the City of Albuquerque has been selectively removing invasive, non-native tree species in the planting area.

Monarch butterfly populations are declining in the U.S. and worldwide because of habitat loss.

Rees believes there is still a lot to learn about the Rio Grande's role in their New Mexico migration.

"It is very charismatic," Rees observed. "People really recognize monarchs but by restoring the habitat for monarchs we're also able to enhance that habitat for other pollinators as well."

Monarchs are not currently on the federal Endangered Species list but by one estimate their numbers declined in 2024 by 30% from the previous year. The Xerces Society said the overwintering population of western monarchs remains at approximately 5% of its size in the 1980s.


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