Paul Landow teaches political science at the University of Nebraska Omaha. A former chief of staff to Omaha’s mayor, he is writing a book about the connections between public employees unions, city government, and elected officials. Why does Nebraska allocate some of its electoral votes by congressional district? Nebraskans are independent, so they generally do not have trouble deviating from the norm if they think it makes sense. One prominent example is the Nebraska Legislature, the only unicameral in the country. It is also officially non-partisan. The people of the state are proud of the single chamber system and think that by eliminating political parties and conference committees, and by requiring every bill to have a public hearing, the unique body contributes to open, responsive government. Again showing independent self-governance, the legislature passed a 1991 law that said two of Nebraska’s five electoral votes would go to the winner of the popular vote for President. The other electoral votes are awarded separately based on the popular vote in each of the state’s three congressional districts. At the time proponents argued
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