LINCOLN — The GOP-led push to change how Nebraska allocates its Electoral College votes for president has a new “backup” plan: a possible 2026 constitutional amendment.

Since 1991, Nebraska has allocated its five presidential electors by awarding two votes to the winner of the presidential popular vote statewide and one vote each for the popular vote winner in each of the state’s three congressional districts. Maine is the only other state that follows the district model.

Legislative Resolution 24CA, by State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams, would ask Nebraskans in November 2026 whether that practice should end and all votes go to the presidential ticket that wins the most votes in the state.

It is “another choice,” said Dorn, should Legislative Bill 3, introduced by State Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen, fall short of ending the practice in one fell swoop. Dorn said he supports Lippincott’s effort.

“I’m not 100% sure that there will be the 33 votes there for Lippincott’s bill. If there’s not, then it gives us another option,” Dorn said Tuesday. “Mine’s a backup. It’s there, that if we don’t get Senator Lippincott’s bill across the finish line, now we have another option.”

Former State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha was a major roadblock for previous Republican-led efforts to change the Electoral College system for Nebraska. He had floated a constitutional amendment approach, which would let the entire state weigh in.

Nebraska has only divided its presidential electors three times, splitting four votes to the Republican nominee and sending a fifth vote from the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District to the Democratic candidate. Those 2nd District winners: President Barack Obama in 2008;  President Joe Biden in 2020; and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.

McDonnell had called the so-called “blue dot” in the Omaha metro instead a “green dot,” citing the added national political relevancy and economic boost that the split system brings to Nebraska.

Lawmakers have twice passed laws seeking to upend the practice. Both were vetoed in the 1990s by former Democratic Gov. Ben Nelson. Republicans fell two votes short of passing the change in 2016.

A public hearing on Lippincott’s LB 3 has not yet been scheduled but will likely be set for the final week of January, according to senators and staff familiar with scheduling.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/lawmaker-proposes-backup-winner-take...