Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, a Republican, revealed on Tuesday that he will not be convening a special legislative session prior to the November election to revamp the state's electoral vote allocation process. The proposed change was advocated by former President Donald Trump and his supporters, aiming to shift Nebraska back to a winner-take-all system that could favor Trump. Pillen cited the lack of sufficient support in the state legislature to counteract an expected Democratic filibuster as the main reason for his decision.

The announcement from Pillen came after Republican State Senator Mike McDonnell, a pivotal vote on the matter, declared his continued opposition to returning Nebraska to a winner-takes-all system. Despite Pillen's efforts to secure a filibuster-proof majority to advance the proposal, he fell short of convincing 33 state senators due to McDonnell's stance. Expressing disappointment, Pillen emphasized the importance of ensuring equal representation for all Nebraskans in the electoral process this election but conceded that without the necessary support, a special session will not be called before 2024.

Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that partially allocate their electoral votes by congressional district. The existing system enabled Democrat Joe Biden to secure an electoral vote in typically Republican Nebraska during the 2020 election by winning in a competitive House district in the Omaha region. Trump and his allies have persistently pressured Nebraska to revert to a winner-take-all distribution, where the top statewide vote-getter would claim all five electoral votes. Despite a recent resurgence in this push aided by prominent figures like Sen. Lindsey Graham and Trump himself, the required backing to counter a filibuster has so far been elusive.