Justia Nebraska Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Election Law
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The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Objectors' application for a special proceeding relating to elections in the district court for Lancaster County, request for a summary order removing Adam Morfeld's name from the May 2022 primary election ballot under Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-624, and requests to conduct discovery and expand the record, holding that there was no error.Specifically, the Supreme Court held (1) Morfeld satisfied the statutory qualifications to seek nomination for the office of county attorney; and (2) there was no abuse of discretion by the district court in denying discovery. View "Nebraska Republican Party v. Shively" on Justia Law

Posted in: Election Law
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The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court determining that Nebraska statutes authorizing the Governor to appoint election commissioners in Lancaster, Douglas and Sarpy Counties were constitutional, holding that the arguments of the Attorney General on appeal were without merit.On appeal, the Attorney General argued that election commissioners and their chief deputies are county officers and thus, under Neb. Const. art. IX, 4, the election commissioners and their chief deputies must be elected. The district court entered judgment against the Attorney General, concluding that election commissioners are not "county officers" under article IX, 4. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Legislature has determined that election commissioners and chief deputies are not county officers, and that determination does not fall outside of the Legislature's broad discretion. View "State ex rel. Peterson v. Shively" on Justia Law

Posted in: Election Law
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The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the district court issuing a declaratory judgment generally in favor of Plaintiffs regarding the proper construction and application of the election procedures in Neb. Rev. Stat. 31-735(2)(b), holding that Plaintiffs failed to join indispensable parties.Plaintiffs, several board members of a sanitary improvement district, brought this action to determine the proper construction and application of section 31-735. The district court entered a declaratory judgment generally in favor of Plaintiffs. The Supreme Court vacated the district court's judgment, holding that Plaintiffs failed to join indispensable parties and that, therefore, the district court lacked jurisdiction to determine the controversy. View "Sanitary Improvement District No. 2 of Knox County v. Fischer" on Justia Law

Posted in: Election Law
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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's lawsuit in which he sought to prevent Nebraska voters from amending provisions of the Delayed Deposit Services Licensing Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-901 to 45-931, through a ballot initiative measure, holding that the district court did not err.The initiative measure, if adopted, would establish a statutory cap on the annual percentage rate that delayed deposit services licenses may charge. Plaintiff sought to enjoin the Secretary of State from including the petition on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot, asserting that 188 of the signatures in support of the initiative petition were invalid. The district court dismissed the complaint. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err by dismissing the complaint and in declining to grant Defendant leave to amend. View "Chaney v. Evnen" on Justia Law

Posted in: Election Law
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In this challenge to an initiative petition seeking to expand Medicaid coverage the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants, the named sponsors of the petition and the Secretary of State, holding that Appellants’ statutory and constitutional arguments were unavailing.Appellants sought to invalidate an initiative petition that received enough signatures to be placed on the November 2018 ballot. The district dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err by (1) dismissing as unripe and failing to find merit to Appellant’s claims that the ballot measure was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority and did not meet the statutory criteria for appropriations; (2) finding that the initiative did not violate the single subject rule; and (3) excluding a challenged exhibit from the evidence. View "Christensen v. Gale" on Justia Law

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In this special proceeding before Michael Heavican, the Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court, Heavican concluded that Robert Krist be included on the primary election ballot as a Democratic candidate for Nebraska governor.Tyler Davis objected to the inclusion of Krist’s name on the primary ballot, alleging that Krist’s candidate filing form was not effective because Krist made a change of political party affiliation in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-612. Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale denied the objection, determining that Krist was a nonpartisan registered voter with no political party affiliation prior to February 12, 2018, and therefore, his Nebraska voter registration application filed that day declaring his “Party Affiliation” as a Democrat was a declaration of a political party affiliation, not a change of political party affiliation. Heavican concluded that Gale properly denied Davis’ objection, concluding that non-partisan is not a “political party affiliation” but rather is the lack of a political party affiliation. View "Davis v. Gale" on Justia Law

Posted in: Election Law
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Appellants filed a complaint challenging a referendum petition. The purpose of the petition was to refer to the voters in the November 2016 general election the question of whether the death penalty should be reinstated. Appellants sought to enjoin the Secretary of State from placing the referendum on the ballot, alleging that the referendum petition was not legally sufficient because a list of sponsors filed with the petition did not include the name of Governor Pete Ricketts, who allegedly engaged in activities that established that he was a sponsor of the referendum. The district court dismissed the complaint. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Ricketts’ alleged financial or other support of the referendum did not make him a a person “sponsoring the petition,” as that phrase is used in Neb. Rev. Stat. 32-1405(1); and (2) therefore, the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. View "Hargesheimer v. Gale" on Justia Law

Posted in: Election Law
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Two employees of Northwest Rural Public Power District (NRPPD), a political subdivision, purchased short radio advertisements on the subject of wind energy, electricity rates, and generation duplication, which were broadcast before the November 2, 2010 general election. Michael Van Buskirk, a candidate for NRPPD’s board of directors, filed complaints with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (Commission), contending the radio advertisements were directed at his campaign. The Commission found that the employees had expended public funds “for the purpose of campaigning” in violation of the Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act (Act). The district court reversed, concluding that the use of NRPPD funds to purchase the advertisements did not constitute “campaigning” within the definition of the Act. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court’s conclusion that the employees had not violated the Act was based on an interpretation of the statute that was contrary to law. Remanded. View "Neb. Accountability & Disclosure Comm’n v. Skinner" on Justia Law

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After the U.S. Supreme Court declared a campaign finance statute in Arizona to be unconstitutional, the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission sought an opinion from the Nebraska attorney general as to the constitutionality of Nebraska's Campaign Finance Limitation Act (CFLA). Under the CFLA, candidates for certain covered elective offices and other public officials could choose to abide or not to abide by voluntary spending limits. A candidate who abided by the limits and raises and spent qualifying amounts in accordance with the CFLA became eligible for public funds. The attorney general opined that the CFLA would likely be found to be unconstitutional by a court, and the Commission determined it would not enforce the CFLA. The attorney general was then directed to file an action in court to determine the validity of the CFLA. The Supreme Court found that the CFLA substantially burdened the First Amendment rights of Nebraska citizens and that it was, therefore, unconstitutional. View "State ex rel. Bruning v. Gale" on Justia Law

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Kelly and Paul Rosberg challenged the results of elections for seats on the Public Service Commission (PSC). The Rosbergs lost in the primaries to Gerald Vap and Rod Johnson, respectively. After the general election, the Rosbergs filed suit in the district court, claiming that Vap and Johnson were ineligible for the seats because both Vap and Johnson were not "in good standing" with their professions and were therefore ineligible for the seats. The district court rejected the Rosbergs' claims and granted summary judgment to Vap and Johnson. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because the Legislature did not intend service on the PSC to be read as a profession for which one must be "in good standing according to the established standards of" that profession, the district court was correct in dismissing the Rosbergs' challenges. View "Rosberg v. Vap" on Justia Law