32-618 Nomination by petition; number of signatures required.
32-618. Nomination by petition; number of signatures required.(1) The number of signatures of registered voters needed to place the name of a candidate upon the nonpartisan ballot for the general election shall be as follows:(a) For each nonpartisan office other than members of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and board members of a Class III school district, at least ten percent of the total number of registered voters voting for Governor or President of the United States at the immediately preceding general election in the district or political subdivision in which the officer is to be elected, not to exceed two thousand. If the district in which the petitions are circulated comprises two or more counties, at least twenty-five signatures shall be obtained in each county which has at least one hundred registered voters in the district;(b) For members of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, at least ten percent of the total number of registered voters voting for Governor or President of the United States at the immediately preceding general election in the regent district in which the officer is to be elected, not to exceed one thousand. If the regent district in which the petitions are circulated comprises more than two counties, at least twenty-five signatures shall be obtained in each of two-fifths of the counties comprising the district; and(c) For board members of a Class III school district, at least twenty percent of the total number of votes cast for the board member receiving the highest number of votes at the immediately preceding general election in the school district.(2) The number of signatures of registered voters needed to place the name of a candidate upon the partisan ballot for the general election shall be as follows:(a) For each partisan office to be filled by the registered voters of the entire state, at least four thousand, and at least fifty signatures shall be obtained in each of one-third of the counties in the state; and(b) For each partisan office to be filled by the registered voters of a county or political subdivision, at least twenty percent of the total vote for Governor or President of the United States at the immediately preceding general election within the county or political subdivision, not to exceed two thousand.The number of signatures shall not be required to exceed one-fourth of the total number of registered voters voting for the office at the immediately preceding general election when the nomination is for a partisan office to be filled by the registered voters of a county. SourceLaws 1994, LB 76, § 186; Laws 1997, LB 764, § 62; Laws 2003, LB 181, § 5; Laws 2003, LB 461, § 3; Laws 2007, LB298, § 1.AnnotationsThis section does not apply to nomination by petition of candidates for office of presidential elector. State ex rel. Beeson v. Marsh, 150 Neb. 233, 34 N.W.2d 279 (1948).A candidate for the nomination for the office of Secretary of State who is defeated in the primary election is not eligible to be a candidate by petition for the office of Auditor of Public Accounts at the following general election. State ex rel. Driscoll v. Swanson, 127 Neb. 715, 256 N.W. 872 (1934).This section sets out a method by which a candidate, not entitled to have his name placed on the primary ballot, may have his name placed on the general election ballot as a candidate by petition. State ex rel. Nelson v. Marsh, 123 Neb. 423, 243 N.W. 277 (1932).This section applies to elections in general but is not applicable to elections under the nonpartisan judiciary act. State ex rel. Acton v. Penrod, 102 Neb. 734, 169 N.W. 266 (1918).