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       lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
       
       
       ARTICLE VIEW: 
       
       Nebraska’s high court says people with felony records can register to
       vote
       
       By Associated Press
       
       Updated: 
       
       10:22 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024
       
       Source: AP
       
       Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to declare
       unconstitutional a state law that  of those who have been convicted
       of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision with
       implications for the approaching election.
       
       In July, Secretary of State Bob Evnen ordered county election officials
       to  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  and Congress could be in
       play.
       
       In an otherwise reliably Republican state that, unlike most others,
       splits its electoral votes, the district has twice awarded an electoral
       vote to Democratic presidential candidates — once to Barack Obama in
       2008 and again to . In a presidential race shown by polling to be a
       dead heat, a single electoral vote could determine who wins.
       
       Given the Omaha district’s history, Democratic presidential nomineeÂ
        and Democratic groups have spent millions in the district in the
       hopes of securing the electoral vote — far more than former President
       Donald Trump and Republican groups.
       
       The last day to register to vote for the 2024 general election in
       Nebraska is October 25 and must be done in person at a voter’s county
       election commission office. Election Day is November 5.
       
       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.
       
       Restoring the  has drawn national attention in recent years. In
       Florida, lawmakers weakened a 2018 voter-approved constitutional
       amendment to restore the voting rights of most convicted felons.
       Following that, an  championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis
       arrested 20 former felons. Several of them said they were  because
       they had been allowed to register to vote.
       
       In Tennessee, lawmakers  this year that would have let residents
       convicted of felonies apply to vote again without also restoring their
       gun rights.
       
       Dozens of states allow people living with felony convictions to vote,
       either for those not currently in prison or upon completion of their
       sentences. Two states, Maine and Vermont, allow everyone, even those in
       prison, to vote. But despite a recent trend toward restoration of
       rights, felony disenfranchisement laws prevent around 5.85 million
       people across the country from voting, according to the ACLU.
       
       Felony disenfranchisement laws date to the Jim Crow era and mainly
       targeted Black people, according to experts. Black registered voters
       have an overwhelmingly positive view of Harris, according to a Â
       from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
       
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