Evnen Ends Burbank Ballot Battle, Accuses Her of 'Cynical Manipulation' of Election Process

by John Gage

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

Secretary of State Bob Evnen said he would allow Cindy Burbank, the Democratic nominee for Senate, to drop from the ballot, ending a months-long showdown where Evnen had initially dropped Burbank from the primary ballot and then threatened to keep her on the ballot for the general election.

“We have consulted with the Attorney General’s office. Under Nebraska law, when a candidate has declined a nomination by the deadline, the Secretary of State has no discretion to refuse it,” Evnen said in a statement on Tuesday. “For that reason, Cindy Burbank’s name will not appear on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.”

Burbank announced on Friday that she was ending her candidacy.

“I have advised the Democratic Party of the requirements for substituting another candidate,” Evnen said. The Democratic Party is not expected to substitute another candidate as the party chair has already endorsed Independent candidate Dan Osborn for the seat.

Evnen's decision ended months of speculation that he would move to keep Burbank on the ballot, over her objections, sparking another legal fight with the candidate.

Burbank was clear throughout her primary run that she was running to win the nomination and then would drop her name from the ballot to help clear the field for Osborn’s campaign. Evnen had said during an event in Omaha ahead of the primary election that he was going to consult with the attorney general to see if he could keep her on the ballot.

The secretary of state had previously lost a ballot fight with the Nebraska Supreme Court when he initially ruled Burbank was not a “good-faith” candidate and would not appear on the primary ballot. The Court ruled against Evnen, saying he had missed the deadline to challenge Burbank’s candidacy.

Evnen said, despite losing this latest fight and being forced to allow Burbank to drop from the ballot, he still viewed her campaign as a “cynical manipulation of the ballot process.”

“Earlier this year, when Burbank first filed to run under a separate Nebraska law, the Nebraska Republican Party filed an objection. They were right, and I acted to stop this abuse then,” he said. “The Supreme Court reversed my decision because the objection was filed too late. Now Burbank has done exactly what I predicted in May. She has declined the nomination.”

Following Burbank’s Friday announcement that she was leaving the race, the Ricketts campaign issued a statement, “Dan Osborn has rigged yet another party’s ballot because he is the Democrats’ nominee. He’s already admitted he’ll caucus with Democrats and all his money comes from Democrats.”

Democrats have until September 1 to replace Burbank on the ballot.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.