Nebraska Supreme Court orders Lincoln to put 3 charter amendments on November ballot

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the City of Lincoln must place three Lincoln charter amendment petitions on the November ballot.

Attorney General Mike Hilgers sued the Lincoln City Council on Aug. 27 after City Attorney Yohance Christie said city officials wouldn’t take action to add the petitions to the general election ballot this year.

Christie said that the three amendments should be included in the May election, writing that the “term “General” election in Article XI, Section 4, of the Nebraska Constitution refers to “City General Elections.”

In Hilgers’ most recent brief to the Nebraska Supreme Court, he argued the Nebraska Constitution does not limit “general election” to a municipal election.

“History makes clear that “general election” means any regular election where the People have the opportunity to be heard,” Hilgers wrote.

Following the two most recent briefs submitted to the court, the judges said city officials “have a ministerial duty to submit the amendments at that election.”

“Because qualifying petitions were filed, Respondents were obligated to submit the proposed amendments in conformity with this constitutional mandate,” the court wrote in its disposition.

Hilgers said in a statement that the court’s decision is not only important for Lincoln residents, but for all Nebraskans.

“The Lincoln voters did the hard work of gathering enough signatures to earn a spot on the November ballot. Unfortunately, Lincoln’s elected officials decided to play political games instead of obeying the Constitution,” Hilgers said.

In Judge Stephanie Stacy’s dissent, she sided with the city’s argument to place the initiatives on the city’s May ballot.

“...I think compelling the city council to submit a strictly local matter to Lincoln voters at the statewide general election in November will require the city council to ignore provisions of its home rule charter and to violate the established timeframes prescribed in the Election Act,” Stacy wrote.

The deadline to add petitions to the November ballot was Sept. 1. However, in Hilgers’ request, he said the city could use a Sept. 11 deadline, which is the last day for the Secretary of State to certify petitions for the ballot.

Those petitions are from the Good Government Lincoln group, led by former state tax commissioner and state Sen. Tony Fulton.

“We are thrilled that the voters of Lincoln will have the final say on term limits, increased voter participation in city elections, and that every citizen who is subject to Lincoln government is able to vote on the officials who are ultimately governing them.“ Fulton said in a statement.

The group also lists Axiom Strategies’ Jessica Flanagain, Daniel Bass and Zoe Ganzman. Hilgers has paid over $57,000 to Axiom for consulting strategies since 2021, according to filings with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

Hilgers released an opinion Aug. 24 at the request of Sen. Beau Ballard, who proposed a bill in the last legislative session, aiming to allow some people living outside Lincoln to vote in city elections. That’s one of the three proposed petition amendments. The two other petitions seek to realign Lincoln elections with statewide elections and add term limits for Lincoln City Council members.

In his opinion, Hilgers said Lincoln officials have no “discretion to impose additional procedures that would delay such a proposal to a subsequent election.”

City officials said it requires at least two City Council meetings to approve the petitions. The city also said they didn’t have enough time due to the first round of petitions not meeting the signature threshold.

Hilgers also argued of the city’s previous history of submitting petitions for the November ballot. He pointed to a ballot initiative in 2018 to add mayoral term limits and its resolution recognizing the certification of the initiative.

“The text, history, and past practice all show that “general election” includes the statewide general election,” Hilgers wrote.

More than 13,000 signatures were rejected the first time by Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen due to suspected fraud. Seven paid circulators have been arrested so far in connection with the suspected fraud.

Wiltgen told Nebraska Public Media he’ll need a resolution from the city council to guarantee the placement of the initiatives on the ballot. He said that will need to happen at either Monday’s city council meeting or through a special city council meeting.