Legislators in Nebraska are looking into moving the state's presidential primary to earlier in the season, because they say some voters could be shut out of the presidential process if the nomination is sewn up before the primaries get to the Cornhusker State.
"This was one of the longest primaries in the history of our country, and Nebraska still didn't have a voice," Nebraska Sen. John Murante said, according to the
Lincoln Journal-Star.
Voters in Nebraska did not get their chance to weigh in on the Republican race. "Just when we had the opportunity to have our moment in the sun, the race ended," Murante said.
Donald Trump's win in Indiana led to the other Republican candidates, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, exiting the race. Nebraska's neighboring states, including Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Missouri, all got appearances by GOP candidates when the race was still contested.
Murante introduced a bill to move Nebraska's primary to March, but it stalled. He plans to reintroduce it next year, now that Nebraska voters "have had a taste of what might have been."
Some impediments to moving the primary include its cost. Moving just the presidential primary would cost Nebraska up to $2 million, according to Secretary of State John Gale. Moving the other state races earlier would require legislators to campaign during their legislative session.
Political Science professor Paul Landow at the University of Nebraska in Omaha said the political season is less exciting for voters since they didn't get a chance to participate. "It's like steam was building up in a building, and then all of a sudden someone opened a valve and let it all out," Landow said, reports the Journal-Star.
The state's Democrats moved their party's primary to March back in 2008.
Nebraska's Democratic Party chairman Vince Powers told the Journal Star that he hopes Republicans move their primary because voters of both parties "deserve the opportunity to have presidential candidates seek their votes."
Nebraska is a winner-take-all state, with 36 delegates on the line. According to
USA Today, Trump's vote totals in the state would be notable since he's the last Republican in the race.
Ben Carson and Marco Rubio are still on the ballot, although they dropped out of the race as well, according to
WTOP.com.
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