Maine Democrats Consider Response to Nebraska Election Reforms

According to a report by Politico, Democrats in Maine are considering altering the state’s rules for awarding electoral votes if Republicans in Nebraska pass a bill to give all electoral votes to a single candidate.

Nebraska Republicans have introduced a bill that would change the way the state awards its electoral votes, moving from a system where three out of five votes are based on performance in congressional districts to a system where all votes go to the popular vote winner in the state, as reported by NBC News.

Maine is the only other state that awards electoral votes based on performance in individual congressional districts. If Nebraska moves forward with their plan, Democrats in Maine stated that they would feel compelled to act to restore fairness.

In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden earned one electoral vote in Nebraska from the district including Omaha, while former President Donald Trump won the state’s other four electoral votes.

Maureen Terry, the House majority leader for Maine Democrats, expressed concern over possible unfairness and stated, “If Nebraska’s Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature were to change their electoral system… the Maine Legislature would be compelled to act to restore fairness to our country’s electoral system.”