Nebraska’s high court says people with felony records can register to vote
CNN
Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to declare unconstitutional a state law that restored the voting rights of those who have been convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision with implications for the approaching election.
Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to declare unconstitutional a state law that restored the voting rights of those who have been convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision with implications for the approaching election. In July, Secretary of State Bob Evnen ordered county election officials to reject the voter registrations of those with felony convictions, citing an opinion issued by Attorney General Mike Hilgers. That opinion, which Evnen had requested, deemed as unconstitutional a law passed this year by the Legislature immediately restoring the voting rights of people who have completed the terms of their felony sentences. Evnen’s order could have kept 7,000 or more Nebraska residents from voting in the upcoming election, the American Civil Liberties Union said. Many of them reside in Nebraska’s Omaha-centered 2nd Congressional District, where both the race for president and Congress could be in play. In an otherwise reliably Republican state that, unlike most others, splits its electoral votes, the district has twice awarded an electoral vote to Democratic presidential candidates — once to Barack Obama in 2008 and again to Joe Biden in 2020. In a presidential race shown by polling to be a dead heat, a single electoral vote could determine who wins. Given the Omaha district’s history, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Democratic groups have spent millions in the district in the hopes of securing the electoral vote — far more than former President Donald Trump and Republican groups. The last day to register to vote for the 2024 general election in Nebraska is October 25 and must be done in person at a voter’s county election commission office. Election Day is November 5.
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