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topicnews · October 8, 2024

Medical cannabis sponsors reject Nebraska officials’ claims of fraud and misconduct • Nebraska Examiner

Medical cannabis sponsors reject Nebraska officials’ claims of fraud and misconduct • Nebraska Examiner

LINCOLN — Supporters of Nebraska’s medical cannabis ballot measure are pushing back against the state’s top election official for polling nearly 100,000 signatures, which they say threatens “the entire rights of the initiative.”

Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers filed court papers questioning the validity of About 49,000 signatures for each of the two medical cannabis petitions. They claimed that more than half were “notary offenses”. Evnen asked the court to determine the actual number of valid signatures and to invalidate the election results if there are not enough signatures.

Lawyers for the three sponsors of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said Monday that Evnen did not allege “intentional misconduct” as required by law and ignored previous precedent “in his effort to disenfranchise tens of thousands of Nebraska voters.”

“Even worse, Nebraska’s top elections official is proposing a burden-shifting framework that threatens to undermine and kill the initiative altogether,” the sponsors’ statement said.

Timeline of the lawsuit

Evnen confirmed on Sept. 13 the campaign’s two measures — which would legalize and regulate the drug for medical use — for the Nov. 5 vote. Evnen confirmed nearly 90,000 valid signatures for each cannabis petition. The campaign requires at least 86,499 valid signatures. Early voting has already begun.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen. September 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

On Sept. 12, John Kuehn, a former state senator and former member of the State Board of Health, filed a motion suit Challenging the legal adequacy of the ballot measures. Kuehn named Evnen and the three campaign sponsors in the lawsuit.

Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong granted Evnen and Kuehn’s appeals go forward while limiting Kuehn’s lawsuit to approx. 17,000 signatures to each petition to define “writing and technical errors” as opposed to actual invalidities.

Hilgers announced a statewide investigation examining fraud, misconduct and “irregularities,” particularly in cannabis petitions, on the same day that Evnen certified the November vote.

Attorney General Mike Hilgers and Hall County Attorney Marty Klein host a news conference about the indictment of a Grand Island man who collected fraudulent signatures for medical marijuana petitions. September 13, 2024. (Screenshot by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

As a result of the investigation, a paid broker from Grand Island and a notary from York were charged. In a court filing last week, Hilgers said there could be additional charges, specifically referring to 10 other circulators or notaries by name, including one of the ballot sponsors.

There are four other measures on the Nov. 5 ballot, but Hilgers has announced an investigation into only the medical cannabis measures.

The duties of the Foreign Minister

A brief from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office in support of Evnen said that the legal concept of “claim” – whether a controversy exists for a case to even go to trial – “keeps both courts and litigants on the right path.” .”

Hilgers and his office confirmed Kuehn’s lawyers’ assertion that Evnen’s duties change if a measure is legally or constitutionally inadequate. Any uncertainty, Hilgers’ office continued, “frustrates the Secretary’s proper execution and administration of these duties.”

“The conclusion that the Minister lacks standing would unduly limit his ability to carry out his constitutional role and do what the electoral law requires,” the brief says.

John Kuehn of Heartwell (left) looks at his Austin-based attorney, Anne Marie Mackin, in Lancaster County District Court. September 20, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Kuehn and his lawyers defended Evnen’s ability to assert the amended claim against the election sponsors, pointing out that Sections of the Nebraska Constitution relating to citizen-led petitions.

Kuehn’s lawyers write that the Constitution “executes itself” and that no state law can alter or impede Evnen’s constitutional mandate to prevent the certification of legally deficient voting measures. If Evnen receives new information, which allegedly includes Hilgers’ investigation, Evnen is constitutionally obliged to act.

“This duty is clearly a legal interest in the subject matter of this litigation,” Kuehn’s brief states.

Should Judge Strong dismiss Evnen’s lawsuit for lack of “standing to stand,” Kuehn’s lawyers demanded that he be allowed to add the challenged signatures to his challenges.

“The precious right of initiative”

Lawyers for election sponsors argue that no court in Nebraska has ever invalidated a petition signature based on an alleged error by a third-party notary. They point out that the Nebraska Supreme Court allowed this in 1919 Signatures will be declared invalid It is based on widespread circulation fraud, but the case was never extended to notaries.

“It would make little sense to penalize a voter for alleged errors that occur after he signs a petition and for which he has no responsibility or control,” attorneys for the election sponsors wrote.

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana are celebrating drop-off day for 114,000 signatures the group collected on two petitions to legalize and regulate medical marijuana. July 3, 2024. (Courtesy of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana)

Evnen’s argument, the lawyers argue, is that “a single mistake – for whatever reason – amounts to pervasive and widespread fraud.”

They contend that Evnen has no authority under any state law or regulation to seek such a “total invalidation” remedy and that Evnen’s job is to review signature requirements before placing a measure on the ballot confirm the result of the election.

In their argument, the sponsors’ lawyers point to a 2022 case in North Dakota in which the Secretary of State invalidated 15,740 otherwise valid signatures because they came from a particular notary. The North Dakota Supreme Court overturned the lawsuit and declined to invalidate a significant number of petitions.

“Part of preserving the precious right of initiative is ensuring that political opponents cannot bury the electorate in bills based on specious claims of technical errors,” lawyers for the election sponsors said. “This is especially true when the political opponent is the state’s top election official – the same one who has already certified the initiatives he is now attacking.”

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