People pulling names off Nebraska petitions in final drive for signatures

The Nebraska State Capitol's west entrance. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — Voters facing the final day of a busy election year for ballot initiatives in Nebraska are not taking the pressure tactics of some petition circulators quietly.

Nebraskans by Tuesday had filed at least 14 formal complaints against circulators with state election officials, driven largely by competing abortion-related initiatives.

One petition effort, Protect Our Rights, wants to put abortion rights in the state constitution. Two others, Protect Women and Children and Now Choose Life, take different approaches to restricting, limiting or banning abortions.

“It’s not unusual to get a few complaints about circulators,” Secretary of State spokeswoman Jackie Ourada said. “Other high-profile petitions … have garnered similar complaints.”

Sorting through Nebraska’s abortion ballot initiatives

Some paid circulators draw complaints

Political observers have seen more social media posts alleging bad behavior by circulators from some saying pushy people approached them in parking lots, on sidewalks and at home.

Others discussed petitioners not reading out loud the language of the petition before they signed, as required by law, or misleading them about what a petition would do.

Some have encouraged people to file with the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office to remove their signatures from competing petitions, if they suspect they signed in error.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, 133 people had filed to have signatures removed, state election officials say. Abortion-rights advocates say they turned in signature-removal affidavits for another 100 people late Tuesday.

The Secretary of State’s Office expects to update the official count Wednesday. Abortion opponents had no immediate comment.

Not the first time for removals

If the added signatures are confirmed, that would top the unusual pace set in 2023, when nearly 200 filed to remove their names from the petition to repeal the state tax credit for donors to scholarships for private K-12 schools.

The state’s figures from 2 p.m. Tuesday show 97 people filed affidavits to remove their signatures from the Protect Women and Children petition, 10 from Protect Our Rights and 10 from Now Choose Life.

Nine also sought to remove their names from a defunct petition effort called Nebraska Human Life Protection.

Allie Berry of Protect Our Rights said supporters of her abortion-rights initiative have faced a lot of misinformation and misrepresentation from people adjusting their messages to different audiences.

She urged people to consider whether they signed the initiative they support.

Brenna Grasz of Protect Women and Children said her petitioners read the object statement to voters and give them a handout saying what their abortion-capping initiative would do.

She said the effort to pull signatures “sounds like a desperate last-ditch effort.”

Among the other petitions, four sought to remove their names from the one seeking to adopt the EPIC Option consumption tax , which would replace property, income and corporate taxes, and three sought removal from the paid sick leave push . The state had received no affidavits about petitions seeking to legalize and regulate medical marijuana .

Affidavits must be returned by the end of the day the petition is turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office. Petitions are due by 5 p.m. Wednesday .

Ballot initiatives seeking to change state law need about 87,000 signatures from registered voters spread throughout the state. Constitutional amendments need signatures from about 123,000 voters.

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