What will be on our state ballot

Although this year’s Presidential election does seem to be on the minds of everyone, there is one issue that will be on all Nebraska ballots come Tuesday, Nov. 8, that you may, or may not know about. It is the Nebraska Death Penalty Referendum, also known as Referendum 426 (Ref. 426) and is the only item of law on the ballots for the entire state.

Although Ref. 426 is the only one that made it to the ballots, there were six other initiatives that could have been decided on November 8; the Nebraska Child Custody Initiative, three separate measures on horse track gaming regulation and taxation initiatives and amendments, the Nebraska Increased Term Lengths and Limits Amendment and a medical marijuana initiative.

Nebraska has a unique requirement for ballot initiatives that demands the signatures of seven percent of the state’s population of registered voters four months prior to the general election for the issue to be placed on the ballot. Although not entirely the case, many of the possible ballot measures were dropped from lack of signatures at the July 8, 2016 deadline.

Ref. 426 was created and influenced by “Nebraskans for the Death Penalty”. Supporters include Governor Pete Ricketts, Treasurer Don Stenberg, Senators Beau McCoy and Mike Groene, Mayor of Omaha, Jean Stother, two University of Nebraska Regents, Hal Daub and Rob Schafer, as well as the Police Officers’ Association of Nebraska, Nebraska Sheriffs Association, the Nebraska County Attorneys Association and many others.

On May 27, 2015, the Nebraska State Senate passed LB 268 which banned the death penalty in our state, changing the maximum penalty for first degree murder instead to life in prison. Although Governor Pete Rickets vetoed the bill the day before, the Senate voted and overturned the veto 30 - 19. Thirty votes is the minimum required to overturn a veto, causing LB 268 to just narrowly pass, making Nebraska one of 19 states at that time to abolish the death penalty.

A petition drive was started by Nebraska’s for the Death Penalty (NFDP) just 90 days after the adjournment of the Nebraska Legislature that passed LB 268. NFDP quickly collected the necessary five percent of verified registered voters signatures, covering 38 of the 93 counties needed for veto referendums, so that Ref. 426 has now been placed on the 2016 ballot. As of August 26, 2015, 166,692 signatures were collected in 70 counties ensuring that more than 10 percent of Nebraskan’s supported the death penalty and therefore blocking LB 268 from becoming law until voters have a chance to decide what the capital punishment in our state should be.

Although the numbers suggest a possible repeal of LB 268 there are still those who oppose the death penalty system in Nebraska, stating that it is a broken system.

There are two major reasons cited by supporters for retaining LB 268 and therefore retaining life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty. There are a significant amount of Nebraskan’s who do not trust the judicial system in making life and death decisions with perfect accuracy and therefore sentencing a possibly innocent person to death. Another argument for the support of retaining LB 268 is simply cost. According to the Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty website, a study by a professor of economics at Creighton University, Dr. Ernie Goss, reported that the death penalty costs Nebraskans approximately $14.6 million per year.

Also according to that website, last week, the Republican Liberty Caucus-Nebraska group voted to oppose the death penalty by retaining LB 268 referring to both the broken death penalty system as well as judicial accuracy issues.

To be clear, when casting your vote on Ref. 426, a vote to “retain” will support LB 268, therefore retaining the proposed legislative bill of life without parole and getting rid of the death penalty.

A vote to “repeal” will abolish LB 268, therefore bringing back/retaining the death penalty in the state of Nebraska.