Secretary Of State Certifies Two Abortion Related Petitions For General Election

The Secretary of State's Elections Division certified that signature requirements have been met for the Protect the Right to Abortion constitutional amendment petition and the Protect Women and Children constitutional amendment petition for the November 5 general election ballot. County election offices completed signature verification within the 40-day period as required in Nebraska Revised Statute § 32-1409. 

“I applaud our county election offices and election workers who are working hard to process several petitions and meet important election deadlines,” Secretary of State Bob Evnen said. “Barring any legal challenges, this November general election ballot will host two ballot measures that appear in direct conflict with each other, which could be the first time this has happened in Nebraska's history.” 

As far as the Nebraska Secretary of State's office is aware, Nebraska has never before had two conflicting petition efforts make the same ballot. For a ballot measure to pass, it needs more “For” votes than “Against” votes and must receive at least 35% of the total votes cast at that election to be in favor of the measure (Neb. Const. Art. III-4). If conflicting ballot measures receive enough votes to pass, the ballot measure that receives the highest number of “For” votes will prevail to the extent of the conflict (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-1416). The Governor is responsible for determining whether there is a conflict (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-1414). 

Both petitions, Protect the Right to Abortion and Protect Women and Children, were petitions to amend the Nebraska Constitution. A petition seeking to amend the Constitution needs to collect valid signatures from at least 10% of registered voters in Nebraska and valid signatures from at least 5% of registered voters in 38 counties (Neb. Const. Art. III-2).  The Protect the Right to Abortion petition collected more than 136,000 valid signatures from Nebraska voters statewide. Petition organizers collected valid signatures from at least 5% of registered voters in 47 counties. The Elections Division instructed county election offices to conclude signature verification after the number of valid signatures met the 110% threshold as permitted in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-1409. The Nebraska Secretary of State's office received 14 affidavits from individuals who requested that their names be removed from the Protect the Right to Abortion petition. 

The Protect Women and Children petition collected more than 136,000 valid signatures from Nebraska voters statewide. Petition organizers collected valid signatures from at least 5% of registered voters in 86 counties. The Elections Division instructed county election offices to conclude signature verification after the number of valid signatures met the 110% threshold as permitted in Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-1409. The Nebraska Secretary of State's office received 312 affidavits from individuals who requested that their names be removed from the Protect Women and Children petition. Attached to this news release are copies of language for each ballot measure as approved by the Nebraska Attorney General's office. Ballot numbers will be decided and announced after all petitions have been processed. There are now three ballot measures approved so far for the November general election: Paid Sick Leave, Protect the Right to Abortion and Protect Women and Children.  The Nebraska Secretary of State's office will hold public hearings on these ballot measures in each of Nebraska's three congressional districts, as well as produce an informational brochure about the ballot measures. The dates and locations of district hearings will be announced at a later date. County election offices and the State's Elections Division are still processing the remaining initiative and referendum petitions: Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection Initiative, Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation Initiative and the Private Education Scholarship Partial Referendum.  The Nebraska Secretary of State's office must certify the November general election ballot by September 13. All petitions will be processed and announced before that date. 

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