Shboard: Interactive Map Primaries: Archive 43 43 days until election day. A state senator has thwarted a Republican effort to secure all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for Trump. A Republican quest to secure all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump appears dead because one state lawmaker refuses to offer boosters his essential support. By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press September 23, 2024, 9:03 P.M. ABC News provides national headlines at 1:11. Keep up with the unfolding stories…Show More A Republican plan to secure all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump appeared hopeless Monday when a state senator withdrew his critical support for the move. Republican Senator Mike McDonnell of Omaha said in a statement that he opposes granting Nebraska’sFive electoral votes will be cast on a winner-take-all basis, like in 48 other states. Nebraska and Maine award two electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide and one vote to the winner of each congressional district.

Your Voice Your Vote 2024 Logo Election Dashboard Interactive Map Primaries: Archive 43 days until election day. A state senator has thwarted a Republican effort to secure all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for Trump. A Republican quest to secure all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump appears dead because one state lawmaker refuses to offer boosters his essential support. By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press September 23, 2024, 9:03 P.M. ABC News provides national headlines at 1:11. Keep up with the unfolding stories…Show More A Republican plan to secure all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump appeared hopeless Monday when a state senator withdrew his critical support for the move. A presidential candidate requires 270 of 538 electoral votes to win. One possible outcome is that Democrat Kamala Harris, the vice president, wins the battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, while Trump wins the other four — North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Harris would receive 269 electoral votes against Trump’s 268, including four from Nebraska. In that scenario, a Trump victory in Nebraska’s 2nd District would result in a 269-269 tie, sending the ultimate decision to the United States House of Representatives, where each state would have one vote, which would benefit Trump. If Harris won the district, she would be President.

Republicans hold a tiny voter registration edge in the 2nd District, and 25% of voters are unaffiliated. McDonnell said he has told Republican Gov. Jim Pillen that he will not support a change in Nebraska law for assigning electoral votes ahead of this year’s election. That is consistent with what he has said previously.

Lawmakers are now out of session and are not due to return until January, so Pillen would have had to call a special session. He has stated that he would not do so unless there was a clear indication that the proposal could reach his desk. “After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change,” McDonnell stated on Wednesday. McDonnell’s term is up in early January, therefore he will depart office. He stated that he is asking Pillen and the Legislature to submit an amendment to the state constitution next year about how Nebraska awards its electoral votes, so that voters have the last say.

“Nebraska voters, not politicians from either party, should have the final say in how we choose a President,” McDonnell stated. Republicans in Nebraska have desired to revert to a winner-take-all system for years, but they have been unable to achieve a legislative supermajority. Officially, the Nebraska Legislature is nonpartisan. Self-identified Republicans, on the other hand, hold 33 of 49 seats, accounting for an exact two-thirds majority. The GOP achieved that edge in April, when McDonnell switched sides, citing the Democratic Party’s condemnation of him last year for backing abortion restrictions.

However, in McDonnell’s 5th Legislative District, about 45% of voters are registered Democrats, and their party vehemently opposes returning to winner-take-all. Less than 26% of the district’s voters are Republicans. According to the Nebraska Constitution, new laws take effect three months after lawmakers adjourn, making the plan too late to affect the Nov. 5 election. The state constitution does allow the Legislature to include an emergency clause to make a law effective immediately, but such a bill must be passed by a two-thirds majority. The Legislature’s rules also need the same two-thirds majority to end a filibuster that is obstructing a legislation.

Supporters of eliminating the winner-take-all rule in 1991 stated that it would better reflect voters’ preferences and draw candidates to a state that would otherwise go unnoticed. During then-Democratic Governor Ben Nelson’s first year in office, the reform was narrowly approved by the legislature. Nelson was the last Democrat to win a governorship, when he was reelected in 1994.