Nebraska Won't Change Electoral Vote Distribution Process

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Facts

  • Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday said a proposal to allocate the state's five electoral votes in a winner-take-all manner lacked the two-thirds majority it would need to pass the legislature ahead of the Nov. 5 election.[1]
  • This comes after Republican state Sen. Mike McDonell said on Monday that he would not support the measure if Pillen called a special legislative session to vote on altering how the state distributes its electoral votes.[2]
  • Just two states — Nebraska and Maine — deliver their electoral votes based on who wins each congressional district. Since Nebraska adopted this process in 2021, the GOP candidate has won all the state's electoral votes, save for the Second Congressional District in both 2020 and 2008.[3]
  • McDonnell said he had listened 'carefully' to people on both sides of the issue in Nebraska and the national stage before deciding that now '[was] not the moment to make this change.'[4]
  • In announcing he wouldn't call a special session, Pillen thanked those who weighed in on this subject but said he was 'profoundly disappointed' his and others' hard work hadn't paid off.[5]
  • Former Pres. Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, posted on Truth Social saying it would've been 'better, and far less expensive' to change the allocation process. Still, he expressed confidence that he would win Omaha the way he did 'in 2016.'[5]

Sources: [1]Associated Press, [2]Reuters.com, [3]FOX News, [4]Nebraska Examiner and [5]NBC.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. McDonnell, a former Democratic who recently switched to Republican, may be showing his true colors with this act of disloyalty. There is a lot at stake in this election, and Nebraska must speak with one voice when it comes to its electoral votes. There's still a chance the governor will have the necessary votes before Election Day.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. McDonnell spoiled the Republicans' plot to steer all the state's votes to Trump. But don't expect Republicans to stop trying to steal the vote rather than earn it, because Trump has gone off this playbook before — naming and shaming people he thought were disloyal after he lost the 2020 election.

Predictions