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LINCOLN — Two petition drive veterans and a would-be political candidate are challenging Nebraska's petition laws in court.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, the three claim that the laws will unconstitutionally burden citizens looking to run for office or put initiatives on the ballot.
The American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project and ACLU Nebraska filed the suit on the trio's behalf.
The suit asks for an injunction barring the state from enforcing three parts of state petition law.
“It's hard not to see the restrictions as a deliberate effort on the part of legislators to keep independent candidates and grass-roots initiatives off the ballot,” said Amy Miller, legal director of ACLU Nebraska.
One part, adopted in 2007, changed requirements for independent candidates for statewide office to get on the ballot.
Lawmakers increased the number of required signatures to 4,000, up from 2,000, and added a requirement that such candidates get at least 50 signatures in each of one-third of Nebraska's 93 counties.
The second part, adopted in 2008, requires that petition circulators be eligible to vote in Nebraska, meaning they must be state residents and at least 18 years old.
The third part, also adopted in 2008, requires that petitions state clearly, in red letters of a specified size, whether the circulator is paid or a volunteer.
Secretary of State John Gale, who was named as the defendant in the suit, said he expects state law to pass constitutional scrutiny. He said court rulings on similar provisions in other states have been mixed.
“We see those items to be quite reasonable,” he said.
Plaintiffs in the case are Citizens in Charge, Michael Groene and Donald Sluti.
Citizens in Charge, based in Lake Ridge, Va., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and expanding the ballot initiative and referendum process.
Its president is Paul Jacob, who spearheaded term limits efforts in Nebraska and other states.
Citizens in Charge was the largest donor to an unsuccessful 2006 petition drive in Nebraska. That petition sought a law to require caregivers to provide food and water to patients in most cases.
Michael Groene of North Platte was the leader of a 2006 initiative measure to limit state and local government spending. Voters rejected the measure. He now is a director with the Platte Institute, a conservative Nebraska think tank.
Donald Sluti is a retired University of Nebraska at Kearney management professor who is interested in running for statewide office, most likely secretary of state. Sluti is the father of Anne Sluti, whose 2001 abduction from a Kearney shopping mall drew national attention.
The three said they want to open Nebraska's election process to all citizens, not just the state's power brokers.
The requirement to get signatures from across the state creates a financial barrier for independent candidates, Sluti said. The same requirements are not placed on partisan candidates.
Groene said the requirement to have Nebraska residents circulate petitions limits citizens' ability to get their petition issue before voters. He compared the issue to the white college students who went to Southern states to help register black voters during the 1960s.
Lawmakers passed the current circulator requirements after courts threw out previous restrictions.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
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