ACLU-Nebraska: Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself

An ongoing lawsuit filed by the ACLU Voting Rights Project and ACLU Nebraska is already challenging ballot access laws for third parties.  Today, the ACLU asked the federal court's permission to add the Nebraska Libertarian Party as an additional party affected by these onerous laws designed to keep smaller political parties off the ballot.

Two aspects of Nebraska's ballot petition laws are the subject of a lawsuit filed today: first, we charge the law has made it too hard for independent party candidates to be put on the ballot and second, petition circulators are currently required to be Nebraska residents in violation of the right to travel.  Our lawsuit is pending in federal court.

Up until recently in Nebraska, a released prisoner would become citizens again--but not full citizens.  People who finished paying for their crime didn't have the right to vote, the most basic way every citizen contributes to our nation.  ACLU Nebraska and a coalition of other concerned people worked to change this and make Nebraska like most states, where a felon automatically gains the right to vote again when he or she is free again.  In 2005, the Nebraska legislature passed LB 53, which restores the right to vote after the person has gone for two years since release from their sentence.  It's not automatic: you still have to register, but now everyone can fully participate in our democracy.  Download a brochure about felons' voting rights here.

Justin Jensen and his mother, Earleen Jensen, thought they knew where their homes were: they'd owned their own homes in the small village of Royal, received mail and paper delivery there, and voted from those homes for over a decade.  But after voting in the 2002 elections, they were shocked when they were charged with the misdemeanor of illegal voting.  The county argued Justin and Earleen don't "really" reside in their homes, because they don't spend every night there.  Justin is a diabetic, and sometimes needs help monitoring his health condition.  He and his mother spend many nights at the farmhouse home of their family as a result.  The Jensens both continue to assert they voted in good faith, and the number of nights they spend at their homes is not the right rule to decide residency.  On January 21, 2005, the Nebraska Supreme Court threw out the convictions, finding Justin and Earleen were legal residents of their homes when they voted.