Donald Trump, Jesse Ventura or other fringe presidential candidates could target Nebraska for support because of how the state awards electoral votes, a legislative committee was told Friday. Nebraska is one of two states that does not award all of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the state's popular vote.
Maine is the only other state operating under a similar system.
Two of Nebraska's five electoral votes are awarded based on the winner of the statewide election and each of the other three votes are awarded to the highest vote-getter in each of the state's three congressional districts. A candidate with a lot of money but little chance of winning could focus his or her efforts in one congressional district, Omaha Sen. Jon Bruning told the Government Committee. Winning one or two electoral votes would bring attention to that candidate and put Nebraska in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, he said. Nebraska Republican Party Chairman Chuck Sigerson told the committee that Nebraska's system is a failed experiment. If every state followed Nebraska and Maine's lead Sigerson predicted the government would become fragmented by fringe political parties and factions.