No prospective write-in candidates filed the affidavit and paid the required fee by the Oct. 23 deadline to qualify for votes to be counted for several of Nebraska’s statewide and legislative contests, including races for the State Board of Education and the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, The Nebraska Examiner reported.
How write-in rules apply
Under state law, a write-in candidate must file a written affidavit and the applicable filing fee no later than the second Friday before the election for write-in votes to be tallied separately and attributed to an individual candidate. That second Friday fell on Oct. 23 for the Nov. 3 general election. Without a timely affidavit, write-in votes are grouped together and are not assigned to a specific person.
Which education contests had no write-ins
By the 5 p.m. filing deadline on Oct. 23, no one had filed to be a declared write-in candidate for State Board of Education Districts 5 through 8, nor for University of Nebraska Board of Regents Districts 1, 2 and 4, the Examiner said. The filing window also closed with no write-in filings for congressional offices, the governor’s race and several other statewide offices.
- State Board of Education: Districts 5-8 had no declared write-in candidates.
- University of Nebraska Board of Regents: Districts 1-2 and 4 had no declared write-in candidates.
- Other offices with no write-in filings included U.S. Senate, U.S. House districts 1-3, governor and several statewide constitutional offices.
Unopposed candidates and confirmed winners
The Examiner noted that, barring unforeseen developments before ballots are certified, five of the 42 statewide races will have unopposed candidates who will be the first confirmed winners once voting concludes on Nov. 3. The report also listed several incumbents who are set to be reelected without opposition in their contests for the Legislature and the State Board of Education.
| Office | Name |
|---|---|
| Legislature, District 40 | State Sen. Barry DeKay of Niobrara |
| Legislature, District 44 | State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner |
| Legislature, District 46 | State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln |
| State Board of Education | President Elizabeth Tegtmeier of North Platte |
The Nebraska Examiner compiled the filing information and candidate lists that formed the basis of the report.
Election officials will group write-in votes together on election night when no affidavit has been filed. If a candidate files the affidavit in time, election officials separate votes cast for that person in the count in the immediate days after the election, according to state rules cited by the Examiner.
