It’s primary day: Lincoln County polls open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday (2024)

Nebraskans will go to the polls Tuesday for a primary election that will be the first in the state’s “voter ID” era.

Short ballots await Lincoln County voters who cast their ballots in person between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. CT at the county’s 24 polling places. For a reminder of their precinct address, visit votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/voterview.

People who requested early ballots must have them in the possession of their county clerk’s office by the time the live polls close. Live voting will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in counties in the Mountain Time Zone.

Early voters face the same deadline for obtaining a replacement ballot at the clerk’s office, according to Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s official calendar.

Lincoln County’s early voters may bring completed ballots to County Clerk Becky Rossell’s office in the North Platte courthouse, 301 N. Jeffers St.

They also may leave them in one of the two official county dropboxes at the courthouse’s south door or in the Sheriff’s Office parking lot across Jeffers from the courthouse.

People picking up a ballot for a registered voter must get it at the clerk’s office by 7 p.m. CT (6 p.m. MT) and return the completed ballot there by the live-voting deadline an hour later.

Valid photographic identification — typically a driver’s license or a state-issued ID card — will be required at polling places for a registered voter to cast a ballot.

Voters who don’t have photo IDs with them can either find them and bring them back or cast a provisional ballot. If they choose the latter, they must present their valid photo ID at their clerk’s office by May 21 for their vote to count.

If registered voters have neither a driver’s license nor a state ID card, they may obtain either at their Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles office even on Election Day. Rossell has said the temporary paper license or ID card issued by that office is considered valid for voting purposes.

Unofficial Lincoln County election results will be available Tuesday night on the county’s website at lincolncountyne.gov. Final results likely will take the rest of the month to finish.

In an unusual twist, Lincoln County voters — or at least those registered with a political party — will have more work to do in federal races than state races or local ones.

A quick recap of Tuesday’s candidates:

Local and regional races

Two Lincoln County Board seats will effectively be filled in the Republican primary, though the winners won’t be sworn in until January.

District 1 Commissioner Joe Hewgley, Nebraska’s second-longest-serving county board member at 39 years, is opposed for a 10th full term by Stuart Simpson, executive director of finance for North Platte Public Schools.

In District 4, Commissioner Chris Bruns faces Nancy Seifer Nelson of rural Sutherland in his bid for a second term. No Democrats filed in any of the three County Board contests.

Voters in North Platte City Council Ward 4 will advance two candidates to the general election. Aaron Edwards, Tracy Martinez and Nick McNew are vying to succeed one-term Councilman Mark Woods, who isn’t seeking re-election.

Sutherland voters will decide whether to declare their village a “sanctuary city” for the unborn. In Keith County, voters will rule on a $46 million bond issue to replace their 1978 jail with a larger one on Ogallala’s south end.

State races

Two legislative seats in The Telegraph’s coverage area are up for election this year, but neither District 43 nor District 47 touches Lincoln County.

Tanya Storer of rural Whitman and Tony Tangwall of Whitney are running to succeed District 43 Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, while Sidney Vice Mayor Paul Strommen and Larry Bolinger of Alliance hope to replace District 47 Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard. Both incumbents are term-limited.

Though they’ll appear on Tuesday’s ballots in their districts, all four Unicameral candidates will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.

Federal races

Nebraska voters face their most complicated U.S. Senate election year since 1954, when Sens. Hugh Butler and Dwight Griswold died within four months of each other. Voters that year had to choose short-term and long-term successors for Griswold and a permanent successor for Butler.

Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine is opposed by Aaron Kowalski of Grand Island as she seeks a third six-year term. The GOP winner will face independent Dan Osborn of Omaha as well as the winner of the Legal Marijuana NOW primary between Kenneth Peterson of Beatrice and Kerry Eddy of Lincoln.

GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts of Omaha was appointed in January 2023 after Sen. Ben Sasse resigned. The Nov. 5 winner will finish the last two years of Sasse’s term and then seek a full term in 2026.

John Glen Weaver of Omaha and Mac Stevens of Bushnell oppose Ricketts in the Republican primary, while Preston Love Jr. and Todd Newbold, both of Omaha, seek the Democratic bid.

Both major parties have contested primaries in Nebraska’s 3rd District House race. Nine-term Rep. Adrian Smith of Gering faces GOP foes John Walz of Hastings and Robert McCuiston of Lincoln, with Daniel Ebers of Lincoln and David J. Else of rural Overton running on the Democratic side.

Registered nonpartisans may request a special ballot for the Republican congressional primaries or the full ballot of the Democratic, Libertarian or Legal Marijuana NOW party.

Republicans, Democrats and Libertarian voters will see choices for president, though former GOP President Donald Trump and incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden have long since locked up their respective parties’ nominations. Six Libertarians are seeking their party’s nod.