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Republican state officials decided to ignore a law they deemed unconstitutional.
www.latimes.com
Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to strip voting rights from people convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could add hundreds of new voters to the rolls and potentially help tip the balance on Nov. 5.
The order by Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen could have kept 7,000 or more Nebraskans from voting in the upcoming election, the American Civil Liberties Union has said. Many of them reside in Nebraska’s Omaha-centered 2nd Congressional District, where both the race for president and the makeup of Congress could be in play.
Nebraska overall is heavily Republican but is one of only two states — the other is Maine — that apportions its electoral college votes by congressional district. The Omaha-area district has twice awarded that vote to Democratic presidential candidates — to Barack Obama in 2008 and again to Joe Biden in 2020. In a 2024 presidential race shown by polling to be a dead heat, a single electoral vote could determine who wins....
Evnen in July had ordered county election officials to reject the voter registrations of those with felony convictions, citing an opinion issued by state Atty. Gen. Mike Hilgers. That opinion, which Evnen had requested, deemed as unconstitutional a law passed this year by the Legislature immediately restoring the voting rights of people who have completed the terms of their felony sentences.
Hilgers′ opinion said that the law violated the state Constitution’s separation of powers and that only the state Board of Pardons under the control of the executive branch could restore voting rights through pardons.
Pardons are exceedingly rare in Nebraska. Evnen, Hilgers and Gov. Jim Pillen make up the three-member Board of Pardons. All three are Republicans.
The opinion also found unconstitutional a 2005 state law that restored the voting rights of people with felony convictions two years after they complete the terms of their sentences....
Former felons can vote in Nebraska. Ruling could help tip the balance on Nov. 5
Nebraska’s high court says people with felony records can register to vote in a decision with implications for the upcoming election.
www.latimes.com
Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to strip voting rights from people convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could add hundreds of new voters to the rolls and potentially help tip the balance on Nov. 5.
The order by Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen could have kept 7,000 or more Nebraskans from voting in the upcoming election, the American Civil Liberties Union has said. Many of them reside in Nebraska’s Omaha-centered 2nd Congressional District, where both the race for president and the makeup of Congress could be in play.
Nebraska overall is heavily Republican but is one of only two states — the other is Maine — that apportions its electoral college votes by congressional district. The Omaha-area district has twice awarded that vote to Democratic presidential candidates — to Barack Obama in 2008 and again to Joe Biden in 2020. In a 2024 presidential race shown by polling to be a dead heat, a single electoral vote could determine who wins....
Evnen in July had ordered county election officials to reject the voter registrations of those with felony convictions, citing an opinion issued by state Atty. Gen. Mike Hilgers. That opinion, which Evnen had requested, deemed as unconstitutional a law passed this year by the Legislature immediately restoring the voting rights of people who have completed the terms of their felony sentences.
Hilgers′ opinion said that the law violated the state Constitution’s separation of powers and that only the state Board of Pardons under the control of the executive branch could restore voting rights through pardons.
Pardons are exceedingly rare in Nebraska. Evnen, Hilgers and Gov. Jim Pillen make up the three-member Board of Pardons. All three are Republicans.
The opinion also found unconstitutional a 2005 state law that restored the voting rights of people with felony convictions two years after they complete the terms of their sentences....
