Citizens for a Free Nebraska is now circulating petitions
statewide. Of course, you can wait until one of our circulators
visits you, but perhaps a
quicker way to sign our petitions would be to visit one of our
"signing places."
*The signing places are
simply agreed locations where signers can go to meet with our
volunteer circulators and sign our petitions at their convenience.
The signing places are not paid in any way to host our circulators
or to circulate petitions, and all of our circulators are instructed
to follow all petitioning rules and to act in accordance with state
law.*
If you would like
to volunteer a location to be added to our list of signing places,
please contact us for
details.
Below is our current
list of signing places, updated as of 3/17/2009.
|
Bennington |
|
Keno Cabana |
15409 S 2nd St |
|
Bellevue |
|
Pro-Cuts |
3906 Twin Creek Dr # 104 |
|
Elkhorn |
|
ACE Hardware |
20277 Wirt St |
|
Rick's Meats |
2929 N 204th St |
|
Pro-Cuts |
1119 N 204th Ave |
|
Gretna |
|
Gretna Drug |
820 Village Sq |
|
Millard |
|
Pro-Cuts |
6909 S 157th
St # B |
|
Omaha |
|
Pro-Cuts |
10623 Fort St |
|
Valley |
|
Valley Pharmacy |
123 E Gardiner St |
|
Waterloo |
| Publication
Printing |
208 3rd St |
Other locations
coming soon!
Please
contact us if you ever
have a complaint about one of our circulators so that we can
resolve the issue quickly and ensure that all of our volunteers are
circulating the petitions properly. It is extremely important that
we make sure that everything is being done right.
In the meantime, if
you would like to sign a petition, but are not able to travel to
one of our signing places, and our circulators have not yet visited
your area, please contact:
Tom Fencl at Publication Printing in Waterloo, NE
(402)
779-4272
and we'll try to get a
volunteer out to meet you.
Below on this page are
some key points from a document provided by the Secretary of State.
For the full document, click here.
#
of Signatures and Signature Distribution Requirements
In order
to force the
issue of independence onto the ballot, Citizens for a Free
Nebraska must collect signatures from a total of 7% of the
registered voters in Nebraska. And, the signatures must be
distributed across at least two-fifths of Nebraska's 93 Counties,
while meeting a minimum of 5% of the registered voters from each of
those Counties. The signatures must be submitted to the Secretary of
State no later than four months prior to the general election.
In other words, we
must obtain a total of about 90,000 signatures from 38 Nebraska
Counties, while meeting a minimum of 5% of the registered
voters from each of those Counties. And, we need them by the
end of June 2010.
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Petition
Circulators
Circulators must read the object statement of the petition to each
signer, and must witness each signature.
Circulators must be registered voters in the State of Nebraska.
When collecting signatures on public property, circulators must
abide by any restrictions on time and place that may be in effect.
On private property, circulation is up to the discretion of the
property owner. Furthermore, state law prohibits the gathering of
signatures within 200 feet of a polling place.
Circulators cannot offer or give anything of value to potential
signers in order to get them to sign the petition. Doing so is
illegal, and it comes with a penalty of up to one year in jail
and/or a $1,000 fine.
Circulators may be either paid or volunteer, and either type must
abide by its own set of rules and regulations in accordance with
state law.
When finished collecting signatures, Circulators must sign the oath
on the form in the presence of a notary public and return the
completed petition form to Citizens for a Free Nebraska (CFN).
If you have questions
or concerns, please don't hesitate to
contact us. It is
extremely important that all circulators and signers follow the
process correctly and adhere to all requirements of state law.
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Petition Signers
Signers must be registered voters in
Nebraska
by the deadline for the submission of the petitions. By signing the
petition, the signer is stating that they are or will be a
registered voter by the submission deadline. In other words, the
signer does not need to be registered to vote when they sign, but
they must agree to be registered to vote by the deadline.
A signer must not sign any name other than their own, sign a
petition more than once, or accept anything of value for signing the
petition.
Common nicknames of signers such as "Bob" for "Robert" will be accepted, but it is simply easier and more certain
that the signature will be accepted if the signer signs in the same
way that they are registered. So in other words, please sign the
petitions in the same way that you are registered.
If a signer makes a mistake when signing, it is permissible to cross
out the incorrect signature line without affecting the other
signatures on the petition form.
If you have questions
or concerns, please don't hesitate to
contact us. It is
extremely important that all circulators and signers follow the
process correctly and adhere to all requirements of state law.
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Specific Questions
Here,
we will try to post the answers to a few common specific questions.
Q:
Is it acceptable to collect signatures from more than one County on
a
single
petition form?
A:
No. Each petition form must contain signatures from only one County.
The statement at the top of each petition form reads, "We, the
undersigned residents of the State of Nebraska and the County of
___," which means that all of the signatures on that petition form
must be from the "County of ___."
So, "mixed-County" petition forms are
not acceptable.
The
reason is that the County-level election commissions are the ones
that verify the signatures after they have been submitted.
Q:
How should residents of Elkhorn sign the petitions? For instance, do
they now have to write "Omaha" as the city?
A:
No. Elkhorn residents can still use Elkhorn as
the city.
Here is what the Secretary of State's office said:
"While it is preferable to use the new address (including city), if
an old address is used, the local official will be able to verify
the signature with the old address [including the old city]."
Also according to the Secretary of State's office, Elkhorn voters
should not need to re-register to vote:
"The Douglas County Election Commissioner has already updated the
addresses in Elkhorn, so a voter does not need to re-register [if
their address has been changed administratively by Omaha, as opposed
to people who have moved or need to re-register for other reasons].
However, it is simpler if a signer uses the new address."
The rule of thumb is, try to sign exactly as you are registered to
vote.
Q: How exactly do
I sign the petition form? Please give a column
by column example.
A:
It is best to sign exactly as you are registered to vote. And, make
sure that your information in each column is complete. For example,
you must include the month, day, and year in your date of birth.
| |
Date |
Signature |
Printed Name |
Date
of Birth |
Address |
City or Village |
Zip Code |
|
1 |
2 / 22 2008 |
 |
John A. Doe |
2 / 22 1950 |
555 S 204th St |
Gretna |
68028 |
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Registered Voters in Nebraska by County
*Updates Coming Soon*
In the meantime, for more information on signature distribution requirements,
please
click here.
If you are able to help us collect signatures in any county, please
contact us.
If you have any questions, please
contact us.