(Picture credit Lancaster County Election Commissioner)
Term limits for Lincoln City Council members have qualified for the ballot after the first of three proposed city charter amendments from the conservative group Good Government Lincoln cleared the 5,000-signature threshold.
This is the group’s second attempt. On July 21, Good Government Lincoln turned in more than 30,000 signatures across three charter amendments. Nearly 20,000 were rejected, including more than 13,300 flagged as suspected fraud. Six out-of-state paid circulators have been arrested in the investigation.
In the second round, 5,628 of 8,082 signatures reviewed on the term-limits measure (69.6%) were found valid — enough to qualify.
The group’s other two petitions are still under review. One would move Lincoln city elections to even-numbered years to align with state and federal elections. The other would allow eligible residents in the city’s three-mile extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction to vote in most municipal elections.
Speaking to KLIN News, Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen said review of those petitions should be finished within a week or so.
“If everything goes as smoothly as the first, hopefully the second and third petitions will be certified later this week, early next week,” Wiltgen said. He also said the term-limits petition did not present significant problems with fraudulent signatures.
Former state tax commissioner and state Sen. Tony Fulton, who is leading the effort, released a statement Monday.
“We are pleased the first of the proposed charter amendments has been certified,” Fulton said. “Voters are excited for a say on these initiatives in November. Thank you to the Lancaster County Election Commissioner for the quick work in verifying the signatures.”
Lincoln voters already imposed term limits on the mayor. In November 2018 they approved a charter amendment capping the mayor at three consecutive four-year terms. The change applied retroactively and blocked then-Mayor Chris Beutler from seeking a fourth term. Beutler and a committee called Fair Elections Lincoln spent more than $160,000 opposing the measure. It passed with 53.14% of the vote.
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.