Nebraska court restores voting rights for felons who have completed their sentences

The Nebraska Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that convicted felons who had fulfilled the sentences imposed upon them by the state were eligible to vote in state and federal elections. The Nebraska state legislature earlier this year passed a law permitting convicted felons to vote after fulfilling their sentence requirements. The law amended a provision of the Nebraska legal code that required two years to pass from the completion of his or her sentence before restoring a convicted felon’s right to vote.

How did this come before the state’s Supreme Court? Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen issued an order two days before the law was scheduled to take effect instructing county officials not to allow convicted felons to register to vote unless their voting rights had been restored by the Board of Pardons, the court explained in its decision. The Nebraska Attorney General released an advisory opinion the same day alleging that the law violated the Nebraska Constitution.

At that point, three convicted felons asked the state supreme court to hear the case and issue a writ of mandamus instructing state election officials to cooperate with the law. The court ultimately agreed to hear the case and ultimately sided with the convicted felons.

How did Nebraska’s Secretary of State respond? Evnen’s office ordered election officials across the state to abide by the supreme court’s ruling on Wednesday. The court resolved the legal questions surrounding the law’s legitimacy and state election officials should now abide by it, he said.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about the courtroom duels taking place across the country regarding how voters should submit their ballots in the 2024 election.