Supporters of a proposed Nebraska constitutional amendment say they’ve submitted enough signatures to place the measure before voters in November. The Respect Nebraska Voters coalition announced Thursday it turned in more than 186,500 petition signatures gathered from all 93 Nebraska counties.
The proposal would make it more difficult for state lawmakers to change voter-approved statutory ballot initiatives by raising the legislative threshold from a two-thirds vote to a four-fifths vote. Campaign sponsor Joe Giles says the effort is about protecting the decisions made by Nebraska voters.
“It protects the people’s initiative rights. It does that by making it harder for lawmakers to undermine or erase our votes by raising the threshold from two-thirds to four-fifths.” Giles says the proposal was prompted in part by legislative changes to Nebraska’s voter-approved paid sick leave law and is intended to safeguard future ballot measures on issues such as minimum wage, medical marijuana and other statutory initiatives.
Nebraska AFL-CIO President Mike Gage says the campaign is about ensuring voters’ voices are respected. “This is not a partisan issue. It’s a people issue. Whether you live in Norfolk, Omaha, or the Panhandle, all Nebraskans deserve a government that listens.”
The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office will now verify the signatures to determine whether enough valid signatures were submitted to qualify the constitutional amendment for the November ballot.