Forget Ohio, this year Nebraska is the state that can determine the presidential election. Obviously due to a quirk of the intricate US electoral system. Jim Pillen, the Republican governor of the state (1.8 million inhabitants) supports a bill that would take away a crucial electoral vote for the Democrats. In fact, there is a 1991 law that assigns two electors to the winner of the state and one for each of its congressional districts. In the 2008 and 2020 elections, the second district of Omaha (Nebraska's major city best known for its richest citizen, Warren Buffett) voted Democratic.
Kirk wrote that maintaining this law “unnecessarily gives strength to political enemies”, and after a few hours Governor Pillen declared that he was in favor of transforming the state into a “winner take all” system, in which whoever receives 50%+ 1 of the votes is taken by all the electors.
What is the scenario in which Nebraska becomes crucial? “Semafor” explains it: if Biden only lost Arizona, Georgia and Nevada compared to the states he won in 2020, he would still have the majority of electors (270-268) thanks to the second district of Omaha. Democrats, who have only a third of the votes in the state Senate, still hope to be able to block the bill.
#elections #Nebraska #crucial #Biden
