Nebraska’s top election official might try to remove a ballot measure to repeal school funding law

The Nebraska Supreme Court appears set to decide if voters get to determine whether to reject a new law pushed through largely by Republican lawmakers to provide taxpayer money for private school tuition. But depending on how they rule, the Nebraska Secretary of State could unilaterally deprive voters of that choice.

The state’s high court heard arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by an eastern Nebraska woman whose child received one of the first private school tuition scholarships available through the new law. Tom Venzor, a lawyer for the woman, argued that the referendum initiative to repeal the funding violates the state constitution’s prohibition on voter initiatives to revoke legislative appropriations.

Daniel Gutman, the attorney for the referendum effort, countered that the ballot question appropriately targets the creation of the private school tuition program — not the $10 million appropriations bill that accompanied it.

But what drew more attention was the assertion by lawyers on both sides that Republican Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen intends to decertify the ballot question — only days after certifying it — unless specifically ordered by the high court to keep it on the ballot.

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