A group of Nebraska petitioners turned in more than 186,500 signatures Thursday for a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult for the Nebraska Legislature to modify voter-approved laws.
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.
Jo Giles, an official sponsor of the petition, spoke Thursday morning at a press conference at the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel, where organizers announced the total.
"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. "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 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.
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.
Al Davis, a ballot sponsor and former state senator who represented Nebraska's 43rd Legislative District, said the amendment would not eliminate the Legislature's ability to change voter-passed laws entirely.
"Does this amendment entirely prevent the Legislature from altering voter-passed initiatives? No, and that's intentional," Davis said. "We can all agree that in very rare circumstances, it may be appropriate for lawmakers to use their power to amend citizen-passed initiatives, but that should be reserved for truly unforeseen circumstances, and after a law has been given the opportunity to work."
Not everyone has embraced the effort. State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, whose committee handled the 2025 changes to the minimum wage and paid sick leave laws, has wondered whether lawmakers should require ballot measures to pass with at least 80% of the vote, if that same 80% threshold is good enough for lawmakers to change one. State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln has said the amendment "ties the hands of the Legislature," according to the Nebraska Examiner.
Marcie Reed, a Nebraska mother who has advocated for medical cannabis access for her son since 2020, said she worries the amendment would make it harder for advocates like her to get lawmakers to fix flawed laws — not just to weaken good ones.
"I think for our campaign in particular, it's going to make it harder for us," Reed said. "We had problems we couldn't even get the 33 votes that we had to get. So we would probably never get the 40 that they're looking for."
Reed said she still has faith in the ballot process, but not in the Legislature.
"I just think that the lawmakers aren't representing us, the people, and doing what they should be doing," Reed said. "They're kind of changing and putting stuff in there like they want it, and not how the voters are wanting it."
Status of other petitions
Respect Nebraska Voters was one of several petitions to turn in signatures by Thursday's deadline.
Fairness for Girls, a petition seeking constitutional protections for sex-separate athletics, turned in 211,000 signatures Tuesday — the largest number of signatures collected for a petition effort in state history, according to organizers.
Tax Relief Nebraska, the group behind two petitions to legalize online sports betting, turned in nearly 350,000 signatures combined last Friday — well above the roughly 126,000 and 88,000 signatures needed for its constitutional amendment and regulatory measure.
Several other petitions did not make it to Thursday's deadline. Advocates for All Nebraskans withdrew all five of its petitions in June — including measures to cap property valuation assessments, reduce taxable property valuation, set a teacher base salary, require hand-counted ballots and establish winner-take-all presidential electors — with the group's spokesperson, Eric Underwood, confirming the campaign had ended without disclosing signature totals.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, three other 2026 petitions – Choose Life Now, a Sales and Excise Taxes constitutional amendment, and a Nebraska Cannabis constitutional amendment – had not been submitted as of Thursday afternoon.
The Secretary of State's Office will now deliver all submitted petitions to local election officials across the state to verify signatures, with certification and ballot numbers expected within the next two months.