Proposed Lincoln city charter amendments too late for Nov. 3 ballot, city attorney decides

LINCOLN — Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie announced Thursday that the deadline has passed for any proposed Lincoln City Charter amendments to go to voters this November.

The decision sets up an imminent court battle over the fate of three proposed city charter amendments from the petitioning group Good Government Lincoln. A spokesperson for the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office confirmed the office filed a lawsuit against city officials seeking to certify the measures for November. The office declined to comment further.

In a news release just after 6 p.m. Thursday, Christie said two of the three petitions from Good Government Lincoln have qualified for the ballot. However, because the Lincoln City Council must provide proper public notice, host a public hearing and then vote on including the measures on the ballot, Christie said, it’s too late for them to get on the Nov. 3 ballot.

State law requires Lincoln officials to place any measures on the November ballot by Tuesday.

“The City Council is under no obligation to bypass their processes for placing petitions on the ballot because of a missed deadline,” Christie wrote. “The City Council will place the Charter amendments on the next general election ballot (May 2027) pursuant to state law.”

The three petitions seek to limit Lincoln City Council members to two consecutive four-year terms, move the dates of city elections from odd to even years and let certain residents within a 3-mile buffer around Lincoln city limits vote in municipal elections, excluding bond votes.

The Lancaster County Election Commission is still verifying signatures for the petition to expand Lincoln municipal election boundaries, but the other two measures have enough valid signatures.

Christie said resolutions must be drafted and reviewed by the City Law Department. He said the Charter Review Commission is a bipartisan body that will independently review both the petition language and alternatives drafted by city law and make recommendations to the council.

The Good Government Lincoln campaign declined to comment Thursday.

Nebraska AG stepped up pressure

For three days, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers had amped up pressure on city officials and threatened to sue if this very decision occurred.

He released an opinion Monday saying the city had to place any qualifying charter amendments on the November ballot so long as county election officials found they had enough signatures. On Tuesday, Hilgers ordered the city to tell him whether they would comply, or risk legal action, by 5 p.m. Thursday. And at a news conference Wednesday, Hilgers accused city officials of plotting to violate the Nebraska Constitution.

“The city has a non-negotiable, non-discretionary requirement,” Hilgers said Wednesday.

The attorney general said he saw “no reason” why the Tuesday deadline could not be met. He cited the Nebraska Constitution that any city charter amendments could be certified as late as early October.

Christie, however, cited state and local laws giving Sept. 1 as the ultimate deadline for 2026.

‘Constitutional right to vote’

Hilgers is a former state senator for Legislative District 21 in northwest Lancaster County. He lives in the 3-mile “extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction” around Lincoln and confirmed Wednesday he is “absolutely” a supporter of the Good Government Lincoln campaign.

He said he had spread the word and encouraged voter support. Hilgers said if Lincoln officials try to block the measures from the ballot, he might become a financial contributor, too. 

‘Sad period in Nebraska history’: AG Hilgers speaks on ongoing petition fraud investigations

In a two-page letter Tuesday, Hilgers cited reporting from the Lincoln Journal Star that city officials had not yet decided what to do.

“If the City Council and City Clerk do not agree to obey their constitutional duty, we will be forced to consider immediate legal action to ensure that Nebraskans residing in Lincoln can exercise their constitutional right to vote on proposed amendments to the Lincoln City Charter this November,” Hilgers wrote.

The Good Government Lincoln campaign submitted signatures in mid-July to qualify its measures, but on Aug. 5, the Lancaster County Election Commission said no measure had enough valid signatures.

More than 65% of the group’s 30,000-plus signatures were rejected. A supermajority of those were flagged as possibly fraudulent.

The campaign regrouped and submitted a new set of signatures Aug. 17.

‘Worst kind of political theater’

Lincoln City Council Chair Brodey Weber, in a statement Thursday morning, said Hilgers was “inappropriately intervening” in the city charter amendment process.

“The City of Lincoln was not responsible for Good Government Lincoln’s failure to appropriately ensure that the signatures being collected were legitimate,” Weber said. “As a result of those failures, we as a city now have an obligation to do our due diligence and ensure we are following the correct process to uphold the law.”

Hilgers gave over “operational control” of his office’s assistance in the Lancaster County-led investigation but said he does not see a conflict of interest in what he considers upholding the constitution.

Weber, a Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Hilgers for the Legislature in 2020, said Hilgers is seeking to intimidate Lincoln officials and “engaging in the worst kind of political theater, potentially at the expense of the integrity of his office.”

The general election is Nov. 3.