Electing Nebraska Election Commissioners Before Supreme Court

The question before Nebraska's Supreme Court could not be more straightforward: must the state's election commissioners be elected in each county? If a majority of the justices agree, it's a case that could change the way counties have administered elections for over a century in the state's three largest counties.

The issue arose after Nebraska's Attorney General Doug Peterson issued an opinion stating the practice of having the governor appoint county election commissioners is "constitutionally suspect." He contends commissioners in Douglas, Sarpy, and Lancaster should be elected like other county officers, such as the clerk or treasurer. When a Lancaster County Judge upheld the current system, the attorney general appealed, and it was reviewed by the Nebraska Supreme Court this week.

Representing the attorney general, Jim Campbell argued state statutes specify county officials must be elected. He told the court appointing the election commissioners goes against the Nebraska constitution.

"There's a greater potential harm at stake in this case than the possibility that a few more people might have to be listed on a local ballot," Campbell argued. "The greater harm here is that if these obvious county officers can be appointed, then nothing would stop the legislature from going in and providing for the appointment of other county officers."

By extension, the argument would go, it could lead to the governor appointing county sheriffs or the board of commissioners.

Lining up to disagree was Nebraska's governor, the secretary of state, and the local election commissioners. Their attorney, David Lopez, argued election commissioners do not have the same status as elected county officers and therefore should not be treated as such. In addition, he noted the responsibilities' unique nature recently in Omaha and Lincoln during the off-season city elections.

He pointed out the "two major county election commissioners focused only on elections for only a portion of their county." He told the court, "that's not consistent with what we would otherwise think about as an attribute of the government nature of county officers being wrapped up in county government work."

The justices will be reviewing a system that has been in place for almost a century in Nebraska.

As is routine procedure while the justices review arguments and evidence in a case, their opinion of the process may not be known until this fall.