ACLU-Nebraska: Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself

If you’re not a Democrat or Republican, how can you get your candidate on the ballot? You couldn’t, really, according to our clients in the Libertarian Party. In order to get listed on the ballot if you’re a third-party candidate, you need to collect thousands of signatures across the state, and Nebraska recently banned the use of non-resident paid petition circulators. According to witnesses who testified in federal court, Nebraska only has one resident circulator—so a third-party must essentially use volunteers to cover the whole state just to get on the ballot and participate in the political process.

This is the reason the national ACLU Voting Rights Project based in New York partnered with ACLU Nebraska to challenge the prohibitions on Nebraskans’ right to engage meaningfully in elections without allying themselves with one of the two major political parties.

We sued on behalf of the Nebraska Libertarian Party, a non-profit organization named Citizens in Charge that works for ballot initiative reform, and an individual candidate who says he’s been thwarted from being able to run as an Independent.

On August 31, 2011, US District Court Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled in favor of ballot access by siding with the ACLU that a ban on out-of-state petition workers was an unfair burden on third-party candidates and those wanting to conduct a petition drive to promote their political views.

Whether you send a check to our office in Nebraska or in New York, your contributions make these partnerships--and victories--possible. You’re not just a card-carrying member of ACLU Nebraska—you’re part of a nation-wide movement to protect civil liberties.