Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to declare unconstitutional a state law that restored the voting rights of those who have been convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision with implications for the approaching election, the Associated Press reports. In July, Secretary of State Bob Evnen ordered county election officials to reject the voter registrations of those with felony convictions, citing an opinion issued by Attorney General Mike Hilgers. That opinion, which Evnen had requested, deemed as unconstitutional a law passed this year by the Legislature immediately restoring the voting rights of people who have completed the terms of their felony sentences. Evnen’s order could have kept 7,000 or more Nebraska residents from voting in the upcoming election, the American Civil Liberties Union said. Many of them reside in Nebraska’s Omaha-centered 2nd Congressional District, where both the race for president and Congress could be in play.
Hilgers′ opinion had said the new law violates the state constitution’s separation of powers, saying only the state Board of Pardons under the control of the executive branch can restore voting rights through pardons. Pardons are exceedingly rare in Nebraska. Evnen, Hilgers and Gov. Jim Pillen make up the three-member Board of Pardons. All three are Republicans. The opinion also found unconstitutional a 2005 state law that restored the voting rights of people with felony convictions two years after they complete the terms of their sentences. The ACLU is representing advocacy group Civic Nebraska and two Nebraska residents, a Republican and an independent, who would be denied the right to vote under Evnen’s directive. Because Evnen’s move came only weeks ahead of the November election, the ACLU asked to take the lawsuit directly to the Nebraska Supreme Court, and the high court agreed.