Secretary of State Knocks Respect Nebraska Voters Initiative Off Ballot

by Lewis Thune

(Picture credit Lewis Thune)

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announced Monday morning that he will not allow the Protect Nebraskans’ Initiative and Referendum Powers Constitutional Amendment to appear on the November ballot following a single-subject complaint from Democratic State Senator Machaela Cavanaugh and former GOP State Senator Curt Friesen.

By Nebraska law, Evnen’s decision will stand until otherwise decided in state court.

The ballot initiative seeks to restrict the Unicameral’s authority in relation to ballot initiatives. If passed by popular vote, the Unicameral would need a four-fifths majority instead of two-thirds to modify laws passed by initiative.

It would also forbid the Legislature from passing any laws that restrict the initiative process, requiring a four-fifths majority for laws adjusting the initiative process, and require those laws to pass strict scrutiny — that is, to demonstrate a compelling state interest.

Despite support from progressive figures such as University of Nebraska Regent Barbara Weitz and Jo Giles of the Women’s Fund of Omaha, the measure has seen scrutiny from both Democratic and Republican leaders, who have argued it will hamstring the Legislature’s ability to implement necessary changes to ballot initiatives.

“It would make it harder to change any law passed by initiative petition - not just the laws we support, but all initiatives. The good, the bad, and the ugly,” Cavanaugh said in a Facebook post.

She also worried it would impair the state’s ability to properly enact a law passed by referendum, pointing to the current regulatory hang-ups on medical marijuana.

“That same higher threshold would also apply to legislation related to medical cannabis and to efforts to address problems in the current regulatory process - issues that, ideally, should not require legislative fixes in the first place.”

Medical cannabis was a major reason for the initiative, with proponents arguing it would allow statewide referenda such as cannabis, minimum wage, and paid sick leave to take full effect. Respect Nebraska Voters garnered 186,000 signatures at the time it submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office in June, and Evnen said on Monday that the effort had hit the verified signature threshold.

In February, former Nebraska attorney general Don Stenberg made the case that the initiative would fail a legal challenge because it addressed more than one subject, violating Article III provisions of the Nebraska Constitution.

Cavanaugh and Friesen filed their objection with the Secretary of State’s Office last week and formally requested Secretary of State Evnen withhold the initiative from the November ballot on that basis.

The objection, which was submitted by Andrew La Grone on behalf of Cavanaugh and Friesen, argued the initiative contained four propositions, including increasing the legislative override threshold for previously passed ballot initiatives, increasing the legislative threshold to change the ballot initiative process, applying strict scrutiny to all laws governing the initiative process, and “prohibiting the Legislature from enacting laws governing the initiative process if those laws ‘condition, restrict, burden, or impair’ the initiative process.”

In a statement, Respect Nebraska Voters said it plans to challenge Evnen’s decision in court.

“Respect Nebraska Voters strongly disagrees with Secretary of State Evnen’s decision to withhold this initiative from the ballot. The initiative language was carefully drafted and thoroughly reviewed to conform to single subject constitutional requirements and precedent,” the group said. “In light of the Secretary of State’s flawed reasoning that led to this determination, Respect Nebraska Voters will challenge his ruling in court, and we are confident that this initiative will ultimately be placed on the November 2026 ballot.”

— Lewis Thune is a writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.