The last four petitions in circulation deal with how Nebraska should conduct its elections; strengthening the voice of the people in referendums by making it harder for the Legislature to override them; and reserving women’s spaces to biological females. 

The first two are proposed by “Advocates For All Nebraskans,” the same group that proposed three of the initiatives intending to reduce property taxes, which we covered in March. Their two amendments are (a) a constitutional amendment to require paper ballots and hand counts for all elections, and (b) winner-take-all presidential elections. 

1)  Hand Count Ballots for Elections Constitutional Amendment

"A constitutional amendment to require all elections in the State of Nebraska to be conducted exclusively using paper ballots that are counted by hand."

“Advocates for All Nebraskans” proposes a constitutional amendment to require all Nebraska elections to be conducted on paper and counted by hand. The amendment lays out requirements that every vote must be on paper so that it can be verified that one specific voter filled out that one specific ballot. It disallows use of any voting machine that would not create a paper ballot. The second stipulation is that all votes must be counted by hand, not machine.  

Proponents for hand-counts are concerned about maintaining secure, transparent, accurate elections. Kirk Penner stated, “This petition simply codifies the most secure and publicly verifiable method of counting votes by prioritizing the manual counting of every ballot.” Eric Underwood makes the point that, if we use hand-counting to audit the accuracy of machine voting, it would make sense to just hand-count to begin with.  

Nebraska isn’t the only state concerned about verifiable paper ballots; Republicans have been trying to pass legislation aimed at election security, with a large percentage claiming that Democrats cheat in elections.  

In 2020, Trump and his campaign claimed that Dominion voting machines, used by over half of the states, were rigged to change votes for him to votes for Biden. Not much came of these claims; they were reported by several conservative news outlets who were then sued by Dominion for defamation, most of which settled out of court—Fox for $800 million, and Newsmax for $60 million, among others. Some state that there is no evidence that there were problems with Dominion; however, Trump’s legal team was directed to save all documentation for possible future legal action.  

Others dispute the claim that hand-counting leads to more accuracy, pointing to both tests and real-world results in which human counters made more mistakes than the machines. Fatigue, various levels of training, and complexity all lead to these errors. In addition, to determine accuracy, a second hand-count would need to be completed. So far, this has not been done. 

If you wish to research further or get involved, connect with any of the names on the petition filing.

2)  Winner Take All Electors Constitutional Amendment

“Amend the Nebraska state constitution to implement a winner-take-all system for awarding electoral votes.”

The second petition from “Advocates for All Nebraskans” is a constitutional amendment to change Nebraska to a “winner-take-all” state, which would make it the 49th state to do so. Presidents are elected by presidential electors which are chosen by voters in the separate Congressional districts used to elect the Representatives for the House. In 48 states, the winner of the majority of districts wins all the electoral votes of that state. For example, in 2024, California had 52 Congressional districts, and two senate seats for the 54 total electoral votes.  Trump won in 11 of those districts, but because Kamala Harris won in 41 of them, all the electoral votes, including the two senate seats, were awarded to Harris.  

Currently, Nebraska and Maine are the only states that “split up” the districts, meaning that a district that votes Democrat would send an elector to vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, and a district that votes Republican would send an elector to vote for the Republican candidate. Nebraska has 5 electoral votes, 2 from the senators and 3 from the House of Representatives districts.   Four of these electoral votes reliably vote Republican; the fifth (2nd District) sometimes votes Democrat—which means that sometimes, the Democratic candidate will get one vote from Nebraska. If Nebraska were to change to a winner-take-all state, and the four districts that currently vote Republican continue to do so, Nebraska would always send all of its 5 electoral votes to the Republican candidate, no matter how the 2nd district voted. 

Those who oppose this measure argue that other states should do as Nebraska does, to give individual voters more of a voice. Those who promote it say that Nebraska should fall into line with the system used by most of the country, and allow the state to vote as a bloc. Given the political makeup of the state, Democrats tend to make the first argument, as they would like to retain the vote that they sometimes win. Republicans are more divided. Some also believe that Nebraska’s system is more fair and should be retained. Others make the second argument, saying that Nebraska is a red state, and should be allowed to vote as such.  

If you wish to research further or get involved, connect with any of the names on the petition filing.

 

3)  "Protect Nebraskans' Initiative and Referendum Powers Constitutional Amendment

“Amend the Nebraska Constitution to protect the people’s reserved initiative and referendum powers by requiring a four-fifths vote of the Legislature to change, impair, or repeal citizen-initiated laws or to pass new laws affecting the initiative and referendum process, and prohibiting all legislative enactments that condition, restrict, burden, or impair these reserved powers.”

The third petition is called “Protect Nebraskans’ Initiative and Referendum Powers.” The sponsors are concerned that it is too easy for the Legislature to overturn or weaken laws passed by citizen initiatives and referendums. As of now, citizens can go through the petition process to get signatures to put either laws or constitutional amendments (initiatives), or repeals of already-existing laws (referendums), on the ballot. However, the Legislature then can usually further define, refine, or weaken the citizens’ laws, and that is the sponsors’ concern.  Their amendment would do three things. 

First, under current law, in order to change or overturn an initiative or referendum, the Legislature must have a 2/3 majority. This petition would amend the Nebraska constitution to require a 4/5 majority instead.  

Second, the initiative would require a 4/5 vote of the Legislature to enact any laws that affect the referendum or initiative process. Laws that protect the initiative and referendum rights of citizens, or laws that deal with the process neutrally (such as administrative rules) would fall under this 4/5 rule. 

Third, the initiative would prohibit the Legislature from making laws that would weaken citizens’ ability to conduct initiatives or referendums. 

The bill’s sponsors believe this is necessary, as they believe the Legislature has not been doing their job on recently passed initiatives. For example, the Legislature passed a law working against a citizen-passed initiative requiring earned paid sick leave. Voters recently passed the right to medical marijuana, but the commission regulating the medical marijuana industry has regulated it so heavily that the medical marijuana is difficult to access—too difficult, some would argue. They have also proposed a law to work against the voter-approved minimum wage increase. Similar issues have occurred with recent provisions for school choice, with the Legislature passing “workarounds” to continue to provide school choice in spite of citizen initiatives that voted against it. Such examples make it appear as though the legislature is working against the citizens, requiring the need for protection for voters’ views. 

Protecting the right for Nebraskans to have their initiatives and referendums respected is crucial. Nebraska has a unicameral legislature, with the understanding that citizens are the “second house.” Nebraska has a robust practice of citizen initiatives, created intentionally to give the voters a voice. Just as a bicameral legislature must work together to pass laws, so should Nebraska’s unicameral legislature with its “second house” of citizens. 

However, defining and enforcing these protections could prove difficult.  

The Nebraska Examiner asked Nebraska lawmakers about this issue – both what they believed the “will of the voters” means, and what ballot measure changes they might support. Some indicated positions that align with this petition, stating that they want strong protections for the citizen initiatives, and that they take their jobs to support the initiatives seriously even when they do not agree.  

Others acknowledged citizens’ frustration and provided explanations or defenses for the legislature’s actions. A few of their points are the following.  

• During the legislative process, the senators take months or years to refine language and make sure that laws do not conflict with each other; initiatives and referendums do not have the advantage of that kind of time. (A supporter of this petition might counter that this is the point – the Legislature takes too long!) 

• Also, often related issues exist, related to the ballot measures, that were not addressed by the initiatives. Lawmakers then have to address those issues, which can make it look like they are opposing the initiative.   

• Several lawmakers are also concerned about millions of dollars of out-of-state money supporting the petitions, and want to ensure that Nebraskan voices are the ones behind petitions.  

• Another point is that for some initiatives, such as those on abortion, financial issues, or medical marijuana, the Legislature is required to define how the amendment will be practiced and regulated. Given the need for this “collaboration,” who will determine whether the Legislature’s actions support or thwart the will of the voters? 

When deciding to sign or not to sign, voters may wish to look further into the legislative actions on recent initiatives to judge for themselves whether citizen initiatives and referendums are being disregarded by the Legislature, or whether they find the Legislature’s actions appropriate. 

If you wish to research further or get involved, connect with any of the names on the petition filing.  

 

The fourth petition is labeled:

4)  Fairness for Girls Constitutional Amendment

“Amend the Nebraska Constitution to establish constitutional protections for sex-separate athletics to ensure equal access to athletic opportunities for females.”

The Legislature already voted for this (LB 89), but the petition is designed to make it a Constitutional statement so it cannot be changed by legislation.

If you wish to research further or get involved, connect with Nebraska Family Alliance or any of the names on the petition filing.

 

Blog research and writing by Vickie Hecker. Vickie is a state employee, but her postings on this site do not speak for the views of the state, its customers, clients, suppliers, or employees. Any links to state sites are provided for informational purposes only.