Question of whether Nebraska public money can go to private schools still set for November ballot

Nebraska’s top election official has ruled that voters will get to decide this year whether to repeal a law that gives taxpayer money for private school scholarships.

But both Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen and state Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, who authored the school choice law and sought to have the repeal effort kept off the ballot, acknowledge that the courts will likely ultimately decide if the repeal question makes it onto November’s ballot.

Evnen said in a news release late Thursday that he consulted state law and previous state attorney general opinions before concluding that the referendum question is legal and will appear on the November ballot “unless otherwise ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.”

Those behind the referendum effort lauded Evnen’s decision.

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“Nebraskans have been clear that they want to vote on the issue of diverting public tax dollars to fund private schools,” said Nebraska State Education Association President Jenni Benson, who also serves on the board of the group that carried out the