On July 17, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued a controversial opinion that the state Pardons Board has sole authority to restore the voting rights of Nebraskans who have served their sentences for felony convictions. In April, the state legislature passed a bill (LB20) lifting a two-year waiting period in order to allow those who have completed their sentences to vote immediately.

The Attorney General’s opinion came three months after the law was passed and only two days before it was to take effect and thousands of Nebraskans who have served their sentences would have been eligible to vote. The opinion strips away the voting rights of upwards of 57,000 people. Many of whom have been voting for 18 years under LB 53, will now effectively be barred from voting for life in Nebraska if this is allowed to stand.

Statement of Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón

For three months after a bipartisan majority in the Nebraska Legislature passed LB20, thousands of citizens waited anxiously to have their right to vote restored. But, just two days before that vital democratic right was to be restored, state Attorney General Mike Hilgers’ dashed the hopes of thousands, stripping them of a say in how their state is governed, and how their tax dollars are spent.

Not only did the Attorney General’s controversial opinion deny the right to vote to those Nebraskans who had not yet completed a two-year waiting period after finishing their sentences. The ruling went still further, targeting Nebraskans who have previously had their voting rights restored under the longstanding two-year waiting period. Tens of thousands who have regained their right to vote may now see it taken away again.

These injustices must not stand. Voter suppression through mass incarceration harkens back to the Jim Crow era when the legal system was abused in order to undermine the ability of Black and brown Americans to vote.

Our communities are stronger when everyone participates and has a say in how they are governed. That includes people in our community who have been involved in the criminal justice system.

Democracy works best when every American is able to exercise their right to vote and make their voice heard at the ballot box.