The Good Government Lincoln Project has made a second attempt to qualify three proposed Lincoln City Charter amendments for the November general election.
The organization announced Wednesday that it submitted more than 9,000 signatures for each proposal. Lancaster County election officials must now review the petitions and determine how many signatures are valid.
The amendments are sponsored by Lincoln business owner and former Nebraska State Senator Tony Fulton. They would:
* Move Lincoln municipal elections from odd-numbered years to the same even-numbered-year schedule as state and federal elections, beginning in 2028.
* Limit Lincoln City Council members to two consecutive four-year terms.
* Allow eligible residents of Lincoln’s three-mile extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction to vote in most city elections, but not city bond elections.
“The support we’ve seen from the people of Lincoln to overcome the obstacles we faced with our initial turn-in has been phenomenal,” Fulton said in the organization’s release.
Fulton said supporters believe the proposed changes would produce a more accountable and representative city government and increase voter participation.
## First Submission Fell Short
The group’s first round of petitions contained more than 30,000 signatures across the three proposals. Lancaster County election officials rejected more than 65 percent of those signatures.
Nearly 10,400 signatures were validated across the three petitions, but none of the proposals reached the required threshold of 4,981 valid signatures.
Election officials referred more than 13,300 signatures to law enforcement as potentially fraudulent. Other signatures were rejected for reasons including duplicate entries, unregistered signers, mismatched signatures and missing information.
Good Government Lincoln subsequently suspended its collection effort, hired new circulators and restarted the petition drive.
## Fraud Investigation Continues
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office has arrested six out-of-state petition circulators in connection with the alleged fraudulent signatures. Five of the suspects reportedly waived extradition and were being returned to Lancaster County. Authorities announced Wednesday that a sixth suspect had been arrested in St. Louis.
The allegations have not been proven in court, and the investigation remains active.
Good Government Lincoln thanked Lancaster County officials and law enforcement for investigating the initial submissions. Fulton has said the organization supports prosecuting those responsible for any fraud.
Investigators have said they have not uncovered evidence connecting a political organization to the alleged crimes.
## Verification Comes Next
Submitting more than 9,000 signatures per proposal does not guarantee that any amendment will reach the ballot. Election workers must verify that the signers are properly registered and that each signature meets legal requirements.