When the governor’s mother and a recently appointed 22-year-old senator get together to launch a political action committee (PAC) to collect signatures for an initiative based on the Big Lie, you know something’s up. That’s what’s happening in Republican politics in Nebraska, and things are getting pretty strange.
According to the Daily Beast, about half a dozen complaints have been lodged recently about petitioners working for the PAC called Citizens For Voter ID.
“Some of them are just flat-out lying about what voters are signing. The company, Vanguard, just got in trouble in Michigan. There is something obviously wrong with their signature-gathering and code of ethics,” John Cartier, voting rights director for Civic Nebraska, told Daily Beast about the PAC.
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Citizens for Voter ID recently hired the Austin, Texas-based GOP firm Vanguard Field Strategies to help gather signatures. Vanguard was the firm behind a signature campaign for Michigan gubernatorial candidate James Craig—who, the Daily Beast reports, is unlikely to have his name in the running after it was discovered that thousands of signatures on his petition were faked.
Complaints of the petitioners in Nebraska include offering misleading information and not fully explaining the proposed ballot measure. The complaints have led to an investigation by law enforcement and have even reached Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson.
The PAC is hoping to have a voter ID requirement on the ballot by the November election, but must collect about 124,000 signatures by July 7 in order to do so.
Sen. Carol Blood, a Democratic gubernatorial nominee, claims she was approached by a petitioner who told her he worked with the state of Nebraska.
In an interview with Daily Beast, Blood says she told the man she was reporting him to the secretary of state.
“In Nebraska, it's a crime to impersonate or pretend to be a representative of any organization for personal benefit. These circulators get paid by the signature.”
According to the Nebraska Examiner, former State Sen. Shelley Kiel said that when a circulator appeared at her home, she too was told that the person worked for the state. Kiel adds that another woman appeared at her front door, minutes after the first person left and told her husband that she worked for the “Secretary of State’s office.” Keil told her that she could be breaking the law by telling folks she worked for the state if she didn’t.
“I was wondering about that,” the woman replied, according to Kiel.
The PAC was launched by Sen. Julie Slama, who was appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts in 2019 after Sen. Dan Watermeier left the role to work in the state’s Public Service Commission. In 2018, Slama worked as Rickett’s press secretary during his reelection campaign.
Slama attempted to get the voter ID bill on the ballot, but it never made it out of the committee, The Daily Beast reports.
Gov. Ricketts supports the voter ID issue. “Nebraska stands with Georgia and supports their work to promote integrity and access in voting.”
Georgia law requires photo identification when voting, either in-person or absentee.
“It’s the way your county ensures it’s you casting your ballot and not someone who isn’t eligible to vote,” the Secretary of State of Georgia’s website reads.
The PAC is being funded by Ricketts’ mother, Marlene Ricketts, who donated $376,000 to Citizens for Voter ID on July 13, 2021, Daily Beast reports. Ricketts is the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and is married to John Ricketts, the former Ameritrade chairman.
“We have real fraud taking place in the streets in order to prevent fraud that is not happening in Nebraska. … It is a weird dichotomy,” Blood said.
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