NE LB541

Eliminates online voter registration and restricts mail-in registration by requiring all voter registration applicants to present valid photographic identification in person to election officials or deputy registrars

Requires voters requesting early voting ballots to specify one of 11 qualifying reasons, including expected absence from county, age 80+, physical inability to reach polling place, hospitalization, religious tenets, legal blindness, or military service

Mandates covert watermarks on all official ballots to verify authenticity and requires signature verification on early voting ballot envelopes against signatures on file

Requires hand counting of at least 25% of ballots at each election to verify vote counting device tabulations, with hand counts defined as counting without electronic devices (calculators permitted)

Establishes new requirements for secure ballot drop-boxes including 24-hour video surveillance, tamper-resistant construction, and public availability of recordings within 5 days of ballot retrieval