Nebraska will remain a state that splits its Electoral College votes in the upcoming presidential election. An effort to change that system to a winner-take-all, appears to have failed in the state Legislature.
State Sen. Mike McDonnell, R-Omaha, released a statement saying he opposed the move within two months of the election and that now is not the right time to make such as change. Instead, McDonnell urged Nebraska’s governor and Legislature to propose an amendment to the state constitution next year, which would give voters the final say on how their electoral votes are split.
McDonnell’s move is significant because, at the urging of former President Donald Trump, Republican leaders in Nebraska have been trying to change the way the state awards its five electoral college votes.
Right now, Nebraska awards two to the winner of the popular vote and the other three are divided based on the results in each congressional district. However, Republicans would have to muster up a two-thirds majority in the Legislature, in a special session, to change the state law and the Electoral College system within months of the election.
With polls showing the presidential race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris extremely close, pundits are running various scenarios of what would happen if one candidate winds up winning 269 electoral votes and the other 268, with Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District hanging in the balance.
In that case, CD-2, as it is commonly referred to, could either determine who gets to the magic number of 270 and become president-elect or leave the Electoral College in a 269-to-269 tie. In that case, the final decision would go to the U.S. House of Representatives.
