Neb Supreme Court: Governor Can Appoint Urban County Election Commissioners

The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a decision this week that allows Nebraska's governor to appoint election commissioners in three of the state's largest counties.

This stems back to more than a century ago, when the Nebraska Legislature drafted the Honest Election Law of 1913. In the legislation, the state's governor is allowed to appoint an election commissioner for counties that have populations higher than 100,000. That only includes Lancaster, Douglas and Sarpy counties. All other Nebraska counties vote for their respective election commissioners.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court sided with a lower court's decision to uphold the original law. That ruling doesn't come without its challenges, though.

Civic Nebraska says the original legislation is unconstitutional and that all election commissioners in the state should be elected by voters, not appointed.

In a statement to Nebraska Public Media News, Civic Nebraska wrote, "This legal challenge was necessary to inspect the statute's constitutionality. It was not about our current election commissioners or the work they do every day."

Attorney General Doug Petersen agreed in 2019 in questioning the original law, saying the appointment for those positions is 'constitutionally suspect.'

After the ruling Friday, Attorney General Doug Petersen said, "This case has always been about getting clarity on the law. Although the Attorney General's Office thought that the Supreme Court's prior case law required election commissioners to be elected rather than appointed, the court has now weighed in, and we are pleased that the issue is settled."