Given the lengthy general election vote, the groups are focused on educating voters

Voters have a lot to think about this November as the general election heads to a full vote.

There are six ballot initiatives in next month’s election. There’s one for paid sick leave, one for school choice, and two for abortion and marijuana. So there will be a lot of text on the ballots.

That means those who make sure voters understand the issues are especially busy. Tari Hendrickson is a board member of the League of Women Voters-Lincoln Lancaster and has helped organize voter education events as chair of the League’s Lunch and Learn Committee.

“Because of all the ballot initiatives, we had to do a lot of extra work this session,” she said. “There has been a lot of activity here recently which shows me we have a lot of people paying attention and getting involved. I think that’s a good thing. We just want to make sure everyone knows what they’re voting for.”

Hendrickson added that the league’s nonpartisan voter education work has seen a renewed commitment this year.

Rachel Gibson, action vice president for the state’s League of Women Voters, hosted an event that broke down the initiatives so voters could understand what each initiative meant.

“We were really happy to be able to talk about the ballot initiative because not only are there several, but there are several that deal with the same issue,” Gibson said. “That’s why it’s even more important that people understand which initiative is which.” [and] what they actually mean. Because it can be overwhelming.

The League of Women Voters is not the only organization working on this front. Denise Blaya Powell, partner at She’s Electable and co-founder of the nonpartisan organization Women Who Run Nebraska, also organized a seminar for voters to understand the many ballot initiatives.

“There are a lot of those this year, more than ever before, and there was a lot of back and forth because the process to get a ballot requires collecting signatures,” she said. “Then a review by the State Department is required. So people had questions about what made it onto the ballot.”

Blaya Powell emphasized how important it is for voters not to turn away from this election, but to research the ballot in advance and read each initiative thoroughly. She echoed Gibson’s concerns about understanding the opposing ballot measures.

“Voter education is really just giving people as much information as possible,” Blaya Powell added. “And the thing is, there are so many things on the ballot this year to inform voters about. So the clarification we seek is simply to clearly express the intent of both voting topics.”

If a voter votes “yes” to both abortion measures or “no” to both abortion measures, they would essentially cancel each other out, she explained.

The League of Women Voters Lincoln-Lancaster has compiled a list of ballot initiatives and their descriptions in English and Spanish.