116 overseas voters are registered to vote under a Nebraska law targeted by the RNC

LINCOLN — A total of 116 overseas Nebraska voters are registered to vote under a state law being challenged by the Republican National Committee, according to new data from the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office.

In a Thursday affidavit, Wayne Bena, deputy secretary of state for elections, said of the 116 voters, six of them voted in the May 12 primary. State law allows U.S. citizens who have never resided in Nebraska but have a parent registered to vote in one Nebraska county to register in one county. It would be a felony to register or vote in multiple states or counties.

Lancaster County District Judge Ryan Post and attorneys for the RNC and Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen alike said they were interested in the voter statistics as the case proceeded.

The RNC and two Lancaster County voters, Jack Riggins and Pam Dingman, argue the law “dilutes the votes of lawful Republican voters” and violates Article VI, Section 1 of the Nebraska Constitution, which defines a qualified voter as a U.S. Citizen who “has resided within the state and the county and voting precinct for the terms provided by law.”

During the May 12 primary election, there were 1,256,903 registered Nebraska voters. A total of 358,538 voters came out to vote, or 28.5%.

Thirty of the overseas voters are registered Lancaster County voters where the lawsuit is filed, Bena said. One of them voted in May. Bena did not list that voter’s political party.

Bena said that over the last three election cycles, there were as few as five voters registered under the challenged law who voted in the 2022 primary to as many as 72 voters who voted in the 2024 general election. The turnout ranged from 0.001% to 0.007% of all votes cast.

Evnen has said he and Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers view the challenged law as constitutional and are defending it. Evnen’s attorneys, from Hilgers’ office, have requested a fast ruling without a full trial. The state argues neither the RNC nor the two voters can bring the suit.

Evnen’s attorneys also point to Nebraska Supreme Court precedent that they say ruled the state Constitution’s use of “resided within” refers to “domiciled in,” rather than physical presence.

“Plaintiffs’ claims against defendant fail to state a claim for relief because interpreting Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-939(2) as plaintiffs request would disenfranchise United States citizens and Nebraska domiciliaries, in violation of the state and federal Constitutions,” Evnen said in a Friday court filing.

The RNC, Riggins and Digman say they explicitly do not want to challenge the legal ability for military voters or those who have lived in Nebraska to be able to register to vote. 

In a statement this month, RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the fight is to “ensure Nebraska elections are decided by Nebraska voters only.” Evnen lost his primary election to Scott Petersen of Omaha, who supports the RNC’s lawsuit. His general election opponent, Democrat Sarah Slattery, opposes the lawsuit.

Voters under the challenged law can request that they be put on a list requiring election officials to mail them a “special ballot” at least two calendar months before the election, this year being Sept. 3, if the ballot is not yet certified by then. This ballot would include space to write in the names of candidates or the decisions on any ballot issues.

The deadline to certify the general election ballot this year is Sept. 11. Finalized ballots need to be mailed to all other military and overseas voters by Sept. 18.

An attorney for RNC and the Lancaster County voters requested that a decision be reached by the Sept. 3 date for clarity. The Examiner reached out to that attorney and his office for comment on the data from Evnen’s office.

A hearing for the state’s motion to expedite the case is set for 1 p.m. Aug. 6. The general election is Nov. 3.