North Platte Telegraph
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled the Nebraska law requiring petition circulators to be residents of the state as unconstitutional. The judge also threw out a requirement that local petition sponsors be residents of those cities affected.
Nebraska lawmakers deep-sixed a proposal Thursday that would have made it easier to get initiative petitions on the ballot. Legislative Resolution 300CA garnered only seven votes in favor and 12 in opposition. A majority of the 49 senators didn’t vote at all - 25 abstained and five were absent. State Sen. John Nelson of Omaha, who introduced the measure, said he was not surprised at the outcome but thought the vote would be closer.
By unanimous vote, the city council approved the wording of a referendum/initiative petition to appear on the May primary ballot at a special meeting Thursday afternoon. “We would like to make it very clear that a no vote keeps the ordinance the same,” said councilman Larry Britton.