Oct. 16 (UPI) — Felons in Nebraska who have completed their sentences can register to vote and participate in the Nov. 5 general election, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
“We issue the peremptory writ directing the respondents to immediately comply with L.B. 20,” the court said in its ruling.
Five Nebraska Supreme Court justices affirmed felons’ right to vote in the upcoming election while two opposed the majority decision. About 7,000 felons are affected by the ruling.
“Give the sheer scale of disenfranchisement that this decision corrects, there is no question that it will be remembered as one of our state’s most consequential voting rights decisions,” Jane Seu, legal counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, said in a prepared statement.
Nebraska lawmakers in 2005 restored voting rights for felons two years after they completed their respective sentences.
The Nebraska Legislature in September voted to enact L.B. 20, which eliminated the two-year waiting period to enable felons to vote.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers opposed the law’s passage, saying only Nebraska’s pardons board can restore felons’ voting rights.
Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen ordered local registrars to cease allowing anyone with a felony conviction to vote and said L.B. 20 and the 2005 law are unconstitutional.
“The Secretary is ordered to remove any disqualification on registration he has imposed that is not contained within L.B. 20 and to comply in all respects with the provisions of L.B. 20,” the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered in its ruling.
“We appreciate the Supreme Court’s consideration of this important issue and are grateful that that court provided clarity before the election,” Hilgers said in a statement following the ruling.
Nebraska residents who are felons and have completed their sentences can register to vote online through Friday and in person through Oct. 25.
