Nebraska § 70-604.03 - Operating area; boundary lines; establish; voting precinct division; request by retail customer to vote or hold office; certification procedure.

§ 70-604.03. Operating area; boundary lines; establish; voting precinct division; request by retail customer to vote or hold office; certification procedure.

(1) To establish boundary lines of an operating area coincident with the boundary lines of whole or divided voting precincts or county boundary lines, it shall be permissible to eliminate area from or add area to the operating area so that retail distribution areas are identified by reference to either whole or divided voting precincts and wholesale distribution areas are identified by reference to whole counties.

(2) Voting or election precincts may be divided for the purposes of establishing operating area, chartered territory, and district elections. The description of such divided precincts may be given by section, township, and range.

(3) Any retail customer whose principal residence is being served by a public power district and whose principal residence is not in the chartered territory of such district may request the district in writing at least fifteen days prior to the certification date for such district, as such date is provided in section 70-611, for the right for each registered voter residing at such residence to vote for, and be eligible to hold office as a member of, the board of directors of such district. The secretary of the district shall cause notice to be given to each such retail customer which reasonably prescribes the manner in which the retail customer may request such right to vote. The notice shall be given by first-class mail and may be included as part of the regular billing statement mailed to a customer if such billing statement is sent by first-class mail to such retail customer and the mail is conspicuously marked as to its importance. Such notice shall be given at least sixty days prior to the time the election certification and publication information is transmitted to the Secretary of State pursuant to section 70-611. The district shall certify to the Secretary of State the names of all such retail customers for whom such request to vote has been made along with identification of the voting or election precincts in which such retail customers reside, and each such retail customer shall be a registered voter and qualified to hold office as a member of the board of directors, if otherwise qualified to vote.

(4) Any district dividing a precinct pursuant to subsection (2) of this section or certifying retail customers pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall transmit all necessary information relevant to such division or certification along with the election certification and publication provided for in section 70-611. All additional election costs caused by such division or certification shall be due and payable by the district within thirty days after the receipt of a statement from the county.

The right to vote in an election of successors to the board of directors of a public power district is purely statutory. In re Boundaries of McCook P. P. Dist., 217 Neb. 11, 347 N.W.2d 554 (1984).