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Training Requirement: Any registered voter may apply to the election commissioner or county clerk to be appointed as a deputy registrar for the purpose of registering voters, however, it is not required that a person be a deputy registrar to conduct a voter registration drive. The election commissioner or county clerk conducts training sessions for deputy registrars. Deputy registrars must complete a training session and take an oath at least once every three years and are then qualified for any county.
Notification and Registration Requirements: Deputy registrars must notify the election commissioner or county clerk of the location and time of proposed voter registration drives, as well as the names and party affiliations of the deputy registrars. Deputy registrars are subject to additional requirements, including that they work in teams of two or more, at least one of whom is not of the same political party as the other’s.
Compensation Restrictions: Do not pay registration drive participants based on how many registrations they collect. Do not offer an applicant any incentive of monetary value to register to vote.
Registration Sites: Nebraska law states that no materials advocating or advertising any political issue, candidate, or party shall be displayed or distributed within fifty feet of any voter registration site, and that no alcohol shall be served within fifty feet of any voter registration site. The registration procedure shall be conducted in a neutral manner and shall not be connected with anything unrelated to the object of registering electors except agency registration under Nevada and federal law.
State Form: The state mail-in voter registration application is located here: sos.ne.gov/elec/ele_forms.html
It can be obtained from the Secretary of State, the election commissioner, or county clerk. The secretary of state and election commissioner may place “reasonable limits” on the amount of applications requested. Nebraska law has specific requirements for persons or organizations distributing voter registration applications by mail. For questions about these requirements, contact your county election official.
Federal Form: Nebraska is required by federal law to accept and use the federal mail-in voter registration application: eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voterregistration-form/
Photocopying Blank Forms: Blank applications may be photocopied and used in voter registration drive.
Distributing Registration Applications by Mail: State law requires any person or organization distributing voter registration applications by mail to use the form prescribed the by Secretary of State and supply the identity of the sender. The form must contain the following language: “You may submit this form if you wish to register to vote or update your voter registration. You do not need to complete this form if you have already registered to vote.”
Incomplete Applications: The Nebraska state form contains a section for those assisting an individual to register to vote to include the assistant’s information. Do not fill in missing information on the form without the express consent of the applicant.
Photocopying Completed Applications: As a best practice, a voter’s full or partial Social Security number and/or driver’s license number should not be retained.
Submitting Completed Applications: Deputy registrars must return completed registration applications to the election commissioner or county clerk of the county where the voter lives no later than the end of the next business day after the registrations are collected. All completed and uncompleted applications must be returned to the county office.
Deputy registrars are not allowed to register voters after 6 p.m. on the third Friday preceding any election. Noncompliance with any procedure, rule, regulation, or guideline may result in the revocation of the deputy registrar’s designation.
State voter registration applications from third-party registration organizations must be received by the office of election commissioner or the county clerk of the county where the voter lives by 6 P.M. or be postmarked by the 3rd Friday before Election Day. County clerk information is available here: sos.ne.gov/elec/clerks.html
For more information, visit
www.fairelectionscenter.org
