ACLU Nebraska Legal Program - Voting Rights
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When is a home a home? Defining voting residency.
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. Top
Can a felon who has paid their debt to society register to
vote? 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. Top
Voting emergencies in 2004. On November 2, 2004, ACLU
Nebraska staffed the phones to respond to emergency requests for
help in voting disputes. The calls ranged from public
employees working all day shifts with a boss who wouldn't let them
off to vote as required by state law to individuals whose ballot
contained errors. We have very limited resources--all our
lawsuits are funded by donations from private individuals here in
Nebraska--so we can't sue on every complaint. Instead, we try
hard to use negotiation to reach positive results when we can.
While no lawsuits came out of the 2004 elections for us, we did
ensure those public employees got time off to vote, and provided
information to the public about their rights to vote. Top
