Nebraska Supreme Court Enfranchises 7,000 Formerly Convicted of Felony Crimes

The Nebraska State Supreme Court ruled this week to allow a state law passed earlier this year to be enforced, enfranchising thousands of people who were formerly convicted of felony level crimes and thwarting efforts by Republican state officials to deem the law unconstitutional.

In a bipartisan vote this summer of the unicameral state legislature, Nebraska lawmakers enacted a veto-proof law that ended a prohibition on residents voting for at least two years after serving a sentence for a felony, overturning a 2005 state law that had enacted the restriction. However, Attorney General Mike Hilgers and Secretary of State Bob Evnen, both Republicans, claimed the new law was unconstitutional, and before it could take effect, ordered election officials across the state to bar people with felony convictions from registering if that two-year period hadn’t elapsed.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska, representing state residents who would be restricted from voting under the action from Hilgers and Evnen, implored the state Supreme Court to intervene, and in a split decision from Tuesday, the court did just that.

Hilgers and Evnen asserted that only the state’s board of pardons could restore voting rights. The state Supreme Court, however, issued a split decision on Wednesday that overturned their attempt to block the new state law.

In Nebraska, the state Supreme Court must have a supermajority of justices deem a state law unconstitutional in order for it to be blocked. Only two of the five justices on the bench came to the conclusion that the new law was unlawful, while two others couldn’t bring themselves to rule either way on the matter. A fifth justice found that the new law was constitutional, as ruling otherwise would give too much power to the two executive branch offices in question.

The split decision means that the new law is now enforced, and that state residents with past felony convictions can vote right away if their sentences have been completed.

The ruling allows a small window for such residents to register to vote. The deadline to register for this year’s election is this Friday. Residents can still register to vote in person through October 25.

According to an estimate from The Sentencing Project, a nationwide criminal justice reform group, the ruling will restore the voting rights of about 7,000 Nebraska residents.

The ruling could influence two important elections. A contentious Senate seat is up for grabs in the state, between independent candidate Dan Osborn and Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. And since Nebraska allocates one Electoral College vote per congressional district, the ruling could affect the district encompassing the state’s largest city of Omaha, where most of the formerly disenfranchised residents currently live, potentially tipping the scales of the presidential election as well.

The ruling from the Nebraska Supreme Court was celebrated by people who would have otherwise been restricted from voting this year.

“For so long, I was uncertain if my voice would truly count under this law. Today’s decision reaffirms the fundamental principle that every vote matters,” said Gregory Spung, one of the petitioners in the case who intends to register as an independent voter.

“It is a weight off my shoulders, and not just because of what it means for me,” said petitioner Jeremy Jonak, a Republican voter who was affected by the actions of Hilgers and Evnen. “Over the years, so many of us have earned a second chance. We live in every part of the state, and the truth is most of us are just trying to live our lives and leave the past behind us.”