Nebraskans take pride in our nonpartisan legislature and our tradition of letting voters — not party insiders — decide elections. That same spirit should extend to who gets to run for governor. Right now, the rules for getting on the ballot are steep enough that a well-known, qualified candidate like Brett Lindstrom has just 21 days to collect 4,000 signatures — including at least 750 from registered voters in each of our three congressional districts — just to appear on the November ballot. That's not a safeguard against fringe candidates. That's a wall that keeps serious people out.
When ballot access is this difficult, voters lose. Fewer choices on the ballot means less accountability for whoever wins. It also means that money and party machinery matter more than ideas or community support. Nebraskans deserve a process that lets us evaluate candidates on their merits, not one that filters them out before Election Day even arrives. The geographic distribution requirement in particular puts independent candidates at a structural disadvantage that major-party candidates simply don't face.
I'm asking you to support reforming Nebraska's petition signature requirements for governor so that independent and nonpartisan candidates face a fair and workable path to the ballot — and to use your voice now, this session, to say publicly that ballot access should be decided by voters, not by barriers that favor the two major parties.
Every Nebraskan deserves a full ballot with real choices, and I'm asking you to fight for that.
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