Nebraska

Nebraska at standstill over restoring voting rights of felons

Published

4 months ago

September 10, 2024

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By Joe Fisher

Voters cast their ballots in the New Hampshire Primary at a voting site at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, N.H., on Jan. 23. File Photo by Amanda Sabga/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 6 (UPI) — Thousands of Nebraskans with felony convictions on their records are waiting for the state supreme court to make a decision on whether or not their voting rights will be restored ahead of the November election.

The state legislature in April passed LB 20, a bill that repealed Nebraska’s long standing two-year waiting period for the restoration of voting rights. The law would automatically restore the voting rights of more than 7,000 people and make the voting rights of convicted felons crystal clear for years to come.

However, on July 17, two days before the law was slated to take effect, Attorney General Michael Hilgers issued an opinion stating the authority to restore voting rights belongs to himself, Secretary of State Robert Evnen and Gov. Jim Pillen. The restoration of voting rights is also considered a pardon, falling under the authority of the Board of Pardons.

“Any person sentenced to be punished for any felony…shall be deemed incompetent to be an elector…unless said convict shall receive from the governor of this state a general pardon,” Hilgers wrote in his opinion.

“We have opined that ‘the legislature cannot legislate the restoration of civil rights. Neither can the legislature direct the Board of Pardons in exercising its duties by passing legislation that states that the Board shall restore civil rights to any person or group of people.’”

Dr. Tommy Moore is the Prison Program Associate for RISE, a nonprofit organization in Nebraska that supports re-entry. In this role, he educates prisoners to prepare them for life after their time is served. He also served a prison sentence of more than nine years in the Florida Department of Corrections.

Moore told UPI that having his voting rights restored in 2018 was empowering. He is registered to vote in Nebraska. However, he does not plan to vote unless he is explicitly told he can by his colleague, RISE director of public policy Jasmine Harris.

“I’m not going to vote because I’m fearful of violating the law,” he said. “I’m so scared that I can be prosecuted. It’s almost unfair that you’re threatening to prosecute me for something I legally obtained. It’s actually creating a trauma in my psychological well-being.”
Felons were banned from voting for life in Nebraska until the state passed LB 53 in 2005. This created the two-year waiting period after a person completed their sentence.

The matter is complicated by the fact that some convictions were handed down in other states. Nebraska’s officials would not be able to issue pardons in those cases.

The ACLU and Civic Nebraska are among the plaintiffs to file a lawsuit in the state supreme court, asking it to uphold LB 20 and restore voting rights.

Time is running out for the state supreme court to weigh in on the issue in time for the election. It publishes new opinions on Fridays. There are nine remaining before the election.

The timing of the challenge by the attorney general has led advocates for voting rights to believe it was a strategic move to not allow the court to reverse the decision before the election.

“For nearly 20 years, the state has delayed justice for thousands of Nebraskans by forcing an additional two-year waiting period to vote after the completion of a felony sentence,” Steve Smith, spokesman for Civic Nebraska, told UPI in a statement. “The Attorney General’s opinion and the Secretary of State’s announcement — made public less than 48 hours before a law to remedy this was to take effect — has introduced more uncertainty, delay, and complication.”

Gavin Geis, executive director of Common Cause Nebraska, told UPI that there is concern that the court’s decision could not only overturn the new law, it could roll back on the 2005 law as well. This could take away the voting rights of tens of thousands of people indefinitely.

“What we’ve been told is that the secretary of state said they’re going to acknowledge and allow people who registered under the two-year waiting period and allow them to continue to vote and accept those registrations,” Geis said. “If the court comes down against that old system then their registration would be thrown into chaos. It would challenge the new law but it would also challenge the old law. Then we’re back to lifetime bans.”

Years of case law have established that the legislature has the authority to restore voting rights, Geis said. The legislature did so with LB 53 and it stood unchallenged for 19 years.

Geis believes that political ideology has become more prevalent in state offices, leading to the sudden challenge to the legislature’s authority on civil rights issues.

“The change is in personnel. It’s in who holds these positions and how they view their roles,” he said. “The previous attorney general and secretary of state saw themselves as administrators carrying out their constitutional roles. Ideology has seeped into the attorney general’s and secretary of state’s offices. It’s become about upholding an ideological opinion.”

Nebraska’s former Secretary of State John A. Gale disagrees with the intervention by state officials who halted the new law, including his successor, Evnen.

“Secretary Evnen and I are old friends. I served as his predecessor as Secretary of State and Chief Election Officer for 18 years. We are both attorneys and attorneys often disagree,” Gale said in a statement. “In this case, I strongly believe the Nebraska Legislature acted with clear authority and LB53 and LB 20 should be enforced as the law for the 2024 election and future elections.”

Supporters of restoring voting rights were prepared to rally newly eligible voters to register and turn out on Nov. 5. Instead they have shifted their focus to education. Geis said his organization and other advocates are keeping people updated on the status of the supreme court case but warning them not to try to register. He worries attempting to register while ineligible may be used against them in the future.

Regardless of legality, barriers remain in getting convicted felons engaged in the election process. Some are highly motivated and passionate about going to the polls. Others feel detached from their civic duty and believe that they do not have a voice.

“There is genuine disenfranchisement that they feel the system doesn’t represent them or that their vote doesn’t count,” Geis said. “There are people in that community that are very passionate about their right to vote. They say, ‘I want to advocate for myself, my community and the people I served with.’ We have spokespeople who have been in the system that want to get out and vote and help register people. They’re our strongest advocates.”

Nebraska’s ballot features opposing measure regarding abortion access. One would ban abortion after the first trimester unless it is deemed medically necessary. There is also an exception for victims of rape or incest. The other measure would enshrine the right to an abortion until fetal viability in the state constitution.

Nebraska

Nebraska governor won’t pursue electoral vote change that would benefit Trump

Published

4 months ago

September 24, 2024

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By Joseph Ax

September 25, 20241:48 AM GMT+6Updated an hour ago

U.S. President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska

Sept 24 (Reuters) – Nebraska’s governor said on Tuesday he would not call a special legislative session to consider altering the state’s method of awarding electoral votes ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election, ending an effort backed by Donald Trump and his Republican allies.

The announcement came one day after a key Republican lawmaker, state Senator Mike McDonnell, said he would not support changing the system to winner-take-all, leaving the Republican super-majority in the state legislature at least one vote shy with Democrats universally opposed.

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In a statement, Republican Governor Jim Pillen called McDonnell’s decision “profoundly disappointing” and confirmed he would not call lawmakers back into session before Election Day.

Unlike many countries, the U.S. president is not elected by the national popular vote; instead, each state awards Electoral College votes in proportion to its population to the winner of that state.

Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that allocate electoral votes partly based on congressional district. In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won one of Nebraska’s five electoral votes in an Omaha-based district, while Trump won one of Maine’s four votes.

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With Trump, the Republican candidate, and Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival, locked in a tight contest, every electoral vote could matter in November. In some plausible scenarios, Nebraska’s Omaha-centered electoral vote could mean the difference between a Harris victory and a Trump one.The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard00:22Johnny Cash statue unveiled at U.S. Capitol

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Trump presses to change Nebraska election law, in fight for a sole electoral vote

Published

4 months ago

September 21, 2024

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By Jeff Zeleny, CNN

5 minute read

Published 8:41 PM EDT, Fri September 20, 2024

The Nebraska State Capitol is seen in Lincoln on May 14, 2024. Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN —

Donald Trump believes he will win four electoral votes from Nebraska, but it’s the fifth one that he is increasingly fretting about – leading the former president and his Republican allies to mount a last-ditch effort to try and change state election law only weeks before ballots are cast.

Trump made a brief call this week to Nebraska GOP lawmakers as they were meeting with Republican Gov. Jim Pillen to discuss the feasibility of overturning a 30-year law, which awards electoral votes by congressional district, rather than statewide winner-take-all.

Earlier efforts to change the law have failed – this year and in previous years – but Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina flew to Nebraska to speak with legislators Wednesday in hopes of helping to make Trump’s case. The former president called into the meeting briefly, a GOP official told CNN, hoping to win support and impress upon them the importance of a single electoral vote.

It’s yet another sign of just how close the election against Vice President Kamala Harris could be, with one electoral vote from an Omaha-area congressional district emerging as potentially pivotal. Even if Harris won the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, but carried no other key battlegrounds, she would still need the so-called blue dot from Nebraska’s 2nd District to reach 270 electoral votes to win the White House.

“I hope the people in Nebraska will understand this may come down to a single electoral vote, and I just don’t believe a Harris presidency is good for Nebraska,” Graham said. “I don’t think it’s good for foreign policy interests of America.”

This screengrab from a video shows yard signs with blue circles in Omaha, Nebraska. The signs, made by Kamala Harris supporter Jason Brown, represent the "blue dot" of Omaha in a sea of Nebraska red.

Trump won all five of Nebraska’s electoral votes in 2016, but won four in 2020, with Joe Biden carrying the Omaha-area district. The Harris campaign is spending millions to try and win that sole electoral vote again, with a grassroots effort playing out in front yards across Omaha featuring yard signs with blue dots, a hopeful symbol for Democrats in a sea of Nebraska red.

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On the call Wednesday, the GOP official told CNN, Trump was neither threatening nor overly persuasive in his brief remarks. His campaign has spent virtually no money trying to compete in the state, a point of contention for some Republicans who believe he should try as hard as Harris to win the vote rather than fight to change the law.

The Trump call was first reported by The Washington Post.

Pillen has said he was still prepared to convene a special session of the Nebraska Legislature before the November election to change the law, but he would only do so if there was sufficient support. An effort failed earlier this year to change the law that is unique to only Nebraska and Maine.

“At this time, I have not yet received the concrete and public indication that 33 senators would vote for WTA,” Pillen said in a statement last week, referring to winner-take-all legislation. “If that changes, I will enthusiastically call a special session.”

A handful of holdouts remain, including state Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha, who switched his party registration from Democratic to Republican earlier this year but has so far resisted entreaties to support a winner-take-all electoral system.

His spokesman, Barry Rubin, told the Nebraska Examiner on Thursday: “Sen. McDonnell has heard compelling arguments from both sides. And as of today, (he) is still a no.”

Democrats have vowed to try and block any last-minute attempts to change the law before the November election.

“We’re being very watchful and mindful of whether or not it happens,” said Tony Vargas, a state senator who is challenging GOP Rep. Don Bacon in the 2nd District, one of the most competitive seats in the country. “It can change right up until Election Day, theoretically.”

Bacon and the four other members of the state’s federal delegation, all Republicans, renewed their call this week to support changing the Nebraska law, writing in a letter: “It is past time that Nebraska join 48 other states in embracing winner-take-all in presidential elections.”

Charlie Kirk speaks at a rally in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 9, 2024.

The Harris campaign and Nebraska Democratic officials are keeping a close eye on any last-minute efforts to change the election law. When the matter came up for a vote earlier this year during the regular session of the Legislature, the measure was 17 votes shy of passing.

Nebraska Democratic Party chairwoman Jane Kleeb said those 17 votes “are very solid.”

“Both Trump and Harris have the ability to compete for Nebraskans’ votes,” Kleeb told CNN. “Democrats take our responsibilities seriously and are spending our time knocking doors, calling voters and putting out yard signs rather than wasting our time bullying elected officials, which is all the Republicans seem to be doing these days.”

Trump benefited from the system in Maine, a blue state, where he won a single electoral college vote in 2016 and 2020 despite losing statewide. Democrats are less optimistic about a Maine sweep, party officials say, than winning one of Nebraska’s electoral votes.

Time has run out for Maine to change its law, state officials have said, with 90 days required for any legislation to take effect. That has drawn even more attention to Trump’s effort to change the Nebraska system.

Democrats have dominated advertising spending in the key Omaha media market. Since Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket in July, her campaign has spent about $4.4 million, according to a CNN analysis of AdImpact data, while a few allied outside groups have spent slightly more than $1 million more.

Going forward, Democrats are also poised to have a big advertising advantage. The party has about $6 million in future bookings in Nebraska, according to AdImpact data, with more than $1 million in airtime booked per week for the final month of the race.

Republicans have invested very little in the state, according to AdImpact data, with about $103,000 from the Trump campaign.

CNN’s Alayna Treene, David Wright and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.