LB 286 Becomes Law
Mar 10, 03:31 PM CST
Governor Heineman signed LB 286 today, legislation proposed by Senator Amanda McGill that improves the way the county commissioners are elected in Lancaster County.
County Board elections in 92 of Nebraska’s 93 counties are held on a district basis; that is, only those citizens represented by the commissioner’s district are eligible to vote for their election. In Lancaster County, however, the general election is held on a county-wide basis. This is analogous to having the whole state of Nebraska vote on every State Senate race –– people in Omaha would be voting on who represents Grand Island in the Unicameral.
Democratic Senator Amanda McGill proposed the common-sense bill, and it passed 41-4-4 on March 4. One of the dissenting votes was cast by Senator Carol Hudkins, whose husband is an incumbent County Commissioner. That’s not too surprising –– the Board is currently completely Republican, and having the board break into districts greatly improves chances of Democrats’ chances in the future.
Lancaster County Board elections will still be held county-wide in the 2008 general election.
– by Eric Van Horn | Send this to a friend
— Robin Mar 12, 10:58 AM CST #