Last year, Duane Kimes did not have to clean out his garage before election day, and he didn't have to set up the portable election booth for his neighbors. Instead, all 20 registered voters in his Cherry County precinct, agreed to vote by mail rather than drive to his garage on election day.

Cherry County taxpayers saved a little money since no election workers were needed to staff the  precinct during the spring primary or the November general election.

The agreement also made life a little easier for the dozen people who generally vote in the Gillaspie district, some of whom drive 15 miles over a trail to vote on the Kimes ranch.

"We thought it worked really well," said John Ravenscroft, a Cherry County commissioner and Gillaspie precinct voter who helped organize the mail-in agreement.

More voters in rural precincts likely will vote by mail under a bill that gained first-round approval Wednesday and appears headed for easy passage.

LB401 would allow local election officials in counties with fewer than 7,000 people to authorize voting by mail for all voters in specific precincts or the entire county, with the approval of the secretary of state. 

Saving time for voters and money for counties are the primary goals of the measure, according to Sen. Deb Fischer of Valentine, who sponsored it. Saving a few thousand dollars may not mean much in some areas, but it is a lot of money in small population counties, Fischer said.

"I'm kind of old fashioned about voting. I think it is a privilege and a responsibility," said Fischer.

So she hasn't been enamored with voting by mail because of its potential for fraud.

But in rural counties, where election officials know everyone in the county, there is much less chance for voter fraud, she said.

The bill gives the state's 48 most sparsely populated counties options when a new federal law mandating that all voting places be handicapped accessible goes into effect next year, said Secretary of State John Gale.

"The one size fits all that we used for decades simply doesn't work well today," he said.

It's also a safety issue in areas where people have to drive long distances over clay or sand roads to vote, Gale said.

In Cherry County, people may have to drive 50 or 60 miles to vote if small precincts are consolidated, said Tom Elliott, county clerk and election official.

"This would seem to be a better alternative," he said. 

The Gillaspie district already had made one concession for handicap accessibility. The voting booth, which used to be in the bunk house, was moved to the two-car garage so anyone in a wheel chair could roll in, said Ravenscroft.

"All you have to do is roll the garage door up and drive in. You don't even have to get out of the car," he said.

And last year's experiment in voting by mail "sure worked out for the best," said Kimes.

"It saves the county a lot of money. I think it is a great idea. I think more of the rural areas are going to go for that."

The bill, as amended, includes four other election changes that were originally in other bills. The allow:

LB408: A person who has not resided in the United State to register and vote in the county in which his or her parent is registered to vote.

LB233: The election commissioner, with authorization from the secretary of state, to divide precincts into sub precincts for an election and is intended to help reduce long lines for the general election in urban areas.

LB290: The secretary of state to establish polling places that can be used for 20 days prior to the election day. These would be in addition to voting booths in the election commission office.

LB477: A voter whose absentee ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost or not received, to cast a provisional ballot on election day or to obtain a replacement absentee ballot.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.