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DOUGLAS J. PETERSON
ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF NEBRASKA
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21153SATE CAPrTOL BUILDING
LINGOL N. NE¯ 68509-8920
<402) 471-2882
TDD <402) 4 71-2682
PAX (402) 471 -3291 or (402) 471-4725
STATE OF NEBRASKA
OFFICiAL
JAN 0 32023
DEPTOF JUSTICE
SUBJECT
REGUESTED BY:
WRITTEN BY:
Authority of Courity Clerks or Eleetion Commnissioners to Manually
Count Ballots
Senator Steve Erdman
Nebraska State Legislature
Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General
Lynn A. Melson, Assistant Attorney General
INTRODUCTIQN
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General concerning the authority
of individual county clerks or election commissioners to choose to exclusively hand count
ballots without the use of vote counting machines. You have asked that we provide our
opinion whether legislation would be needed to authorize those local election officials to
opt to manually count ballots or whether current state law already permits them to do so.
You are considering introducing legislation in January which would allow local election
officials to make that choice.
ANALYSIS
1. Applicable Nebraska Statutes
The State's Eleotion Act [the Act] is found at Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 32-101 to 32-
1551 (2016 and Cum. Supp. 2022). The provisions of Artile 10 of the Act pertain to
counting and canvassing baliots.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagne2023&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)