Lawsuits challenging voting rights law, marijuana ballot measures remain in question

With early voting already underway in Nebraska, courts are in a race against the clock to decide the fate of lawsuits challenging the ability of people convicted of felonies to vote and two medical marijuana ballot questions.

The Nebraska Supreme Court is considering a case asking that Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen be ordered to follow a new law allowing people convicted of felonies who have served their sentences to vote in the Nov. 5 election.

Meanwhile, a Lancaster County District Court judge is considering a case challenging the validity of two medical marijuana ballot questions that would allow the use of medical cannabis and regulate its sale and distribution.

With Election Day quickly approaching, Evnen’s office is wrestling with two questions: if the law allowing the estimated 7,000 people who Evnen blocked from registering to vote is upheld, what recourse do they have because of the reduced time they had to register? And what happens if the medical marijuana ballot issues are struck down but voters approve the measures?

“We’ll be following the directions given by the courts,” said Jackie Ourada, spokeswoman for Evnen’s office. “We’ll have more information once the courts announce their decisions.”

A new law passed in April eliminated a two-year waiting period for people convicted of felonies who have served their sentences to register to vote.

The lawsuit with the state’s Supreme Court was prompted after Evnen ordered local election officials across the state not to follow the law.

Evnen’s action followed a nonbinding legal opinion issued by Republican Attorney General Mike Hilgers on July 17 that said the law was unconstitutional because it amounted to a commutation that can only be granted by the Nebraska Board of Pardons. The board is made up of Hilgers, Evnen, and fellow Republican Gov. Jim Pillen.

The medical marijuana lawsuit was filed by former Republican state Sen. John Kuehn, co-chair of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national organization that opposes marijuana legalization.

The lawsuit alleges procedural problems with the signature-gathering process for the petitions and the unlawful preemption of federal laws dealing with marijuana use, among other issues.

Evnen on Sept. 13 certified that supporters of the two marijuana measures had gathered enough signatures to put the issues on the ballot.

The attorney general’s office is leading an investigation into the allegations that some signatures for the petitions were gathered illegally.