It’s the most wonderful time of every other year: election time! May 12 is Primary Election Day for Nebraska. However, for many people, due to coronavirus, Primary Election Day will be a stay-at-home activity done by mail-in ballot. Regardless of how you intend to vote, the Nebraska Catholic Conference is here to help with a voter guide, found at www.NebraskaCatholicVoter.com.

Just last week our voter guide went live. After publishing our voter guide we have received a variety of questions about the purpose and scope of our voter guide. In order to help everybody have a better understanding of the voter guide, I want to offer the following frequently-asked questions.

All in all, we hope that this resource helps you get a better grasp on where candidates say they stand on a variety of issues. We also hope that you will take time to share this resource with family, friends, fellow parishioners, among others.

What is the purpose of the Nebraska Catholic Voter Guide? The Nebraska Catholic Voter Guide is intended as an information-gathering resource for voters across the state of Nebraska, in order to help them become better educated on the policy positions of those running for public office.

The Nebraska Catholic Conference invited all state legislative and federal legislative candidates on the upcoming ballot to answer a survey indicating their support or opposition on a variety of important public policy issues currently facing our state and nation. We also gave them the opportunity to offer a special message to you, the Catholic voter.

Is the Nebraska Catholic Voter Guide an endorsement of any candidates? No. Federal law prohibits a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization from endorsing or opposing any candidate, political party, or political action committee. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Nebraska Catholic Conference is not associated with any political party and does not endorse or oppose any candidate, political party, or political action committee.

Is the Nebraska Catholic Voter Guide intended to compare candidates with public policy positions of the Catholic Church? No. Federal law prohibits a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization from supporting or opposing a candidate, and comparing a candidate’s public policy positions to those of the Catholic Church could be seen as support or opposition toward those candidates. The information that has been gathered in the Nebraska Catholic Voter Guide is intended to be an educational resource for voters to have a better understanding of candidates who are running for public office.

Are the symbols used to identify a candidate’s position intended to signify whether a question has been “correctly” or “incorrectly” answered? No. The symbols are shorthand for either “Support” for or “Opposition” to the specific public policy issue being presented to the candidates.

As described above, Federal law prohibits a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization from supporting or opposing a candidate, and comparing a candidate’s public policy positions to those of the Catholic Church could be seen as support or opposition toward those candidates.

The information that has been gathered in the Nebraska Catholic Voter Guide is intended to be an educational resource for voters to have a better understanding of candidates who are running for public office.

It is incumbent on the voter to read and understand the question being asked and make ultimate determinations about how the responses inform their decisions.

What if I have further questions for the candidates? As always, to be an active and educated voter, you are free to contact candidates who are running public office.

What if I am not registered to vote? If you are not registered to vote, you can visit the Nebraska Secretary of State’s “Voter Registration Portal”  for more information and instructions to register as a voter. Notably, there are deadlines for online and in-person voter registration which can be found  here. 

What if I want to vote early by mail? If you want to vote early by mail, you can find more information at the Nebraska Secretary of State’s “2020 Elections” information page.