Evnen nixes petitions seeking to limit legislative changes to Nebraska voter-approved initiatives

A ballot initiative aiming to make it more difficult for the Legislature to modify voter-approved laws will not appear on the general election ballot.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen made the announcement Monday morning, one week after a current and former state senator filed an objection to the Protect Nebraskans' Initiative and Referendum Powers Constitutional Amendment.

The objection, filed jointly by Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh and former Sen. Curt Friesen, alleged that the petition violates Nebraska’s constitutional requirement that ballot measures need to be limited to a single subject.

It’s up to the Nebraska Secretary of State to make an initial determination whether the objection has merit and whether the initiative should be certified for the ballot.

In early July, organizers turned in more than 186,000 signatures in support of the initiative, which have yet to be certified.

Any voter-led initiative that proposes an amendment to the constitution requires 10% of Nebraska voters, including at least 5% of registered voters from 38 different counties. The initiative unofficially received signatures from around 15% of voters statewide.

Following the announcement, Respect Nebraska Voters issued a statement saying the group plans to challenge the decision in court.

“This is yet another attempt by our politicians to interfere with our constitutional right to make our voices heard at the ballot box,” the statement said. “Respect Nebraska Voters strongly disagrees with Secretary of State Evnen’s decision to withhold this initiative from the ballot. The initiative language was carefully drafted and thoroughly reviewed to conform to single subject constitutional requirements and precedent.”

The statement went on to say organizers of the petition are confident the initiative will ultimately make the ballot this November.

Later in the day, petition sponsors Al Davis, Dawn Essink and Jovanora Galbreath filed a lawsuit with the Nebraska Supreme Court.

The Respect Nebraska Voters coalition officially launched its campaign in January, stating that recent voter-approved laws have been modified or delayed in implementation – "undermining" what Nebraskans have voted for.

The initiative would amend Article III, sections 2 and 4 of the Nebraska Constitution — raising the vote threshold required for lawmakers to change or repeal voter-passed laws from two-thirds to four-fifths and adding new restrictions on legislation affecting the initiative process itself.

Jo Giles, an official sponsor of the petition, previously talked about some of the voter-approved initiatives that the group feels state lawmakers have failed to follow through on.

"It's about paid sick leave, minimum wage, and other kitchen table issues that impact our family's lives. But it's also bigger than that. It's about our freedom to make decisions about our lives," Giles said in July. "Too many politicians think they know what's best for Nebraskans, that they know better than the people that elected them. But Nebraskans know what's best for Nebraskans."

The announcement comes amid a mass investigation into Nebraska’s petitions after fraudulent signatures were discovered in previous petition efforts.