Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen says he’s confident in the state’s election process, but is reminding voters to be vigilant with mail-in ballots with election day just over a month away.
Evnen says although there probably won’t be as many mail-in ballots as there were in May’s primary, he does expect many Nebraska voters to choose that option. But he says, the polls will be open November 3rd and voters should feel safe.
“We will have all of the protective equipment, all of the protective protocols in place that we had for the primary election, they’ll be in place again for the general election. Voters can feel safe, our poll workers can feel safe,” Evnen said.
All mail-in ballots have to be received by the time the polls close November 3rd and won’t be counted if they aren’t. Evnen says ballots put in the mail by October 27th should be delivered by the end of election day. And he warns against so-called ballot harvesting, where a third party offers to deliver a ballot or help fill it out.
“Be careful that you don’t get subjected to undue influence, ‘Here, I’ll help you fill that out, let me help you fill that out and I’ll take it in for you,’’ Evnen said. “Fill it out with discussions with trusted people who you know and if you’re not going to turn it in yourself, give it to a trusted person. Don’t give it to a third party who you don’t know.”
Ballots can also be hand-delivered to local election offices or put in secure lock boxes. Evnen says his office has logged around 350,000 early ballot requests so far. Early ballots will to be mailed out to voters starting Monday.