Nebraska Attorney General says two laws that would give felons right to vote are unconstitutional
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LINCOLN, Nebraska (KETV) — The Nebraska Attorney General released an opinion concluding LB 20 is unconstitutional.
The law passed by the legislature this year would have given felons the right to vote immediately after a completed sentence.
LB 20 was introduced by Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne.
Secretary of State Bob Evnen directed county election offices to stop registering people convicted of felonies who have not been pardoned.
The Attorney General also concluded LB 53 is unconstitutional.
That law was passed in 2005 and implemented a two-year waiting period for felony voting rights registration.
Hilgers’ reasoning for both laws to be deemed unconstitutional is they violated the separation of power clauses in the state constitution.
The opinion concluded that only the board of pardons could restore voting rights to an individual convicted of a felony.
Wayne spoke with KETV NewsWatch 7 who said he did not find out the news from Hilgers, and he plans to take legal action.
“It’s so important because it allows people to get engaged in their community. People who can make a choice on how their community is governed have a significant reduction in the recidivism rate and that saves taxpayers dollars and makes our community better. I stand by the constitutionality of LB20 and the previous bill. What I’m more concerned about is how the Secretary of State decided he wasn’t going to follow the law. I think that’s a problem. No elected official is above the law,” said Wayne.
The Secretary of State said he will go to the Aug. 20 pardon’s board meeting to ask them to restore voting rights to those registered voters with felony convictions who were originally registered under LB 53.
Evnen’s office said he does not intend to remove voters with felony convictions from the voter registration system.
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