Lindstrom Bounced From Ballot Over Fraudulent Signatures
by Matt Johnson
(Picture credit Matt Johnson)
Brett Lindstrom will not be on the ballot for governor this November after the Secretary of State’s Office found fraudulent signatures on the petitions he turned in nearly two weeks ago.
“Brett Lindstrom did not meet the statutory requirements to appear as a nonpartisan candidate for governor on the 2026 general election ballot,” the office announced in a release on Friday.
Of the 5,765 signatures his campaign turned in to the Secretary of State’s office, only 3,358 were deemed valid, 642 short of the required 4,000 needed to qualify. The news comes just over a month after Lindstrom launched his short-lived nonpartisan campaign for governor.
Lindstrom was largely quiet about his signature-gathering operation until right before the August 3 deadline. The quiet nature of his petitioning had led political insiders to question privately and publicly whether he had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
In a statement Friday, Lindstrom said his campaign was a victim of fraud.
“I was not aware of this activity. Our campaign and the thousands of Nebraskans who participated honestly in this process are victims of petition fraud,” Lindstrom said. “We are pursuing every legal avenue available to us and intend to hold those responsible accountable. I am deeply disappointed — not just for myself and our campaign, but for every Nebraskan who signed a petition in good faith, every volunteer who gave their time and every person who believed they were participating in a fair and lawful process.”
“They did their part. We did our part. The unlawful actions of a few should not be allowed to erase the voices of thousands,” he added.
According to the release from the Secretary of State’s Office, a significant number of the invalid signatures were found to be fraudulent. A number of the submitted petition pages containing those fraudulent signatures had been circulated by three of the individuals who were arrested earlier this month on suspicion of circulator fraud in the case of the city charter amendment petitions circulated by Good Government Lincoln.
The matter has been referred to the office of Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers for further investigation.
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office released a statement, saying they were looking into additional fraudulent signatures in other petition campaigns.
“Our investigators will follow the evidence, report those findings to the prosecuting agency for review,” Sheriff Terry Wagner said. “We will continue to safeguard the integrity of this criminal investigation from attempts by any party, group, or affiliation to use them for political purposes.”
The sheriff’s office has previously stated that no political motivation has been found behind the fraud committed.
A spokesperson for Governor Jim Pillen’s campaign responded to the news of Lindstrom being dropped from the race by saying Pillen was focused on working “overtime every day to deliver for Nebraskans.” Lynne Walz, the Democratic gubernatorial challenger, said in a statement that catching the fraud “shows the system works.”
“Nebraskans deserve transparency and accountability around the circulators, the firm, or anybody else who was involved or aware,” she added.
County election officials verify petitions by going line by line on each petition when verifying signatures, looking at name, date of birth, and address to see if at least 2 of the 3 match. If fewer than 2 match, the signature is rejected, but if 2 or more match, then officials match signatures in their file database to see if they are authentic.
Other checks include verifying the notary signature, making sure the petitioner’s name is on the sheet and legible, and that the signatures on the document were collected on a date before the notary’s signature.
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.