Early voting for Primary now open

Early, in-person voting for the May Primary began in Nebraska on Monday, April 11. For Perkins County, early voting can now be done in the Clerk’s Office at the Courthouse in Grant between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Citizens can request an early ballot until May 2 by calling the clerk’s office at 308-352-7560 for more information.
Citizens have until April 26 to mail in their voter registration, with May 2 being the last day for in-person voter registration. The Clerk’s office will remain open until 6 p.m. on May 2 to assist people in registering.
According to Perkins County Clerk Rita Long, sample ballots will be printed in the Tribune-Sentinel April 27, allowing citizens to get a look at the offices for which they’ll cast ballots for during the Primary Election on May 10. Not all races will be included in the Primary that will included in the General Election in November. Only those which are being contested will be included in the Primary.
For Perkins County, this includes the Perkins County Hospital Board of Directors and the race for Legislative District 42, which is new to Perkins County because of redistricting that happened last year due to the census, along with several state races.
Those who are running for the three open positions on the Perkins County Hospital Board of Directors include the following: Jeffery D. Skeels (I), Lissa L. Schroder, Victoria Gengenbach, Janet Lagler, Marcia L. Shalla, Melissa K. Wilson.  
one County - Two Districts
As for Legislative Districts, Perkins County now has two. How Legislative districts are drawn is determined by population. Based on the state’s population of 1.961 million in the last census in 2020, divided by 49 legislative districts, the average population for each district is 40,031. Redistricting requires that each legislative district be within 5 percent above or below that benchmark, according to the Nebraska Legislatures website. That allows population in each district to range from 38,029 to 42,032 to provide equal representation across the state.
Perkins County was split because after all of its population was put back in District 44 once the census was complete, the population was greater than the allowable 5 percent deviation, according to Dan Hughes, who is the current Dist. 44 Senator.
As a result, Perkins County was split into two districts, with part of the county, the southwest part, staying with District 44, and the other part being placed with District 42. (See map) The precise split occurs from the Colorado line along Road 761 east to Road 331, then south to Hwy 23, then back east to Road 333 and south on Road 333 to the Chase County line. Everything in the southwest corner, including Grant and Venango, stays with District 44, and with the remainder going to District 42.
Because his term limit is up this year, Hughes is not able to seek reelection. Vying for Hughes’ seat in District 44 are Edward Dunn of Grant and Teresa Ibach of Sumner.
As for District 42, three people will be vying for the seat that was held for several years by Mike Groene of North Platte. After a harassment complaint was made by one of Groene’s former aides earlier this year, Groene resigned with Governor Pete Ricketts appointing Mike Jacobson from North Platte to complete Groene’s term.
Jacobson is one of the candidates seeking to fill the District 42 seat, along with Chris Bruns and Brenda Fourtner, who are also both from North Platte.
Election Day
Election Day this year will be on Tuesday, May 10, with polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All precincts in Perkins County vote at the Perkins County Fairgrounds in Grant.
Clerk Long said that so far, she has enough poll workers for this year’s election, but is always interested in adding volunteers to be trained as alternates. Those who are interested in volunteering can call Long at the Clerk’s office for more information.