Nebraska
Registered-voter math, 38 counties, and a moving target
Nebraska is the only state that bases initiative signature requirements on total registered voters rather than past turnout — which means the target rises every time registration grows, and a campaign that budgets against last year's number will come up short. It is also unusually friendly to professional petitioning: no circulator residency requirement, pay-per-signature permitted, and circulators may sign their own petitions. The unicameral Legislature is elected on a nonpartisan ballot, which changes how legislative candidates qualify.
Signature Requirements
| Office / Measure | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Partisan primary candidate | No signatures. Filing fee only — 1% of the office's annual salary |
| Filing fees by office | U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative $1,740; Governor $1,050; Attorney General $950; Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor $850; Public Service Commissioner $750; Legislature $120 flat; Regents, State Board of Education, MUD $25 |
| Fee exemption | No fee for offices paying under $500 annually or per diem only; in forma pauperis affidavit available for indigent candidates |
| Petition candidate, statewide partisan | 4,000 signatures, including at least 750 from each of the three congressional districts |
| Petition candidate, nonpartisan office | 10% of registered voters who voted for governor in the district, capped at 2,000 |
| Petition candidate, school board | 20% of the votes cast for the highest vote-getter at the previous election |
| Initiated constitutional amendment | 10% of registered voters — approximately 123,465 as of July 2024 |
| Initiated statute | 7% of registered voters — approximately 86,426 as of July 2024 |
| Veto referendum | 5% of registered voters (10% to suspend the law) — approximately 61,733 as of July 2024 |
Two candidate deadlines, not one
Nebraska splits its filing deadline by incumbency. Incumbents seeking offices on the primary ballot file roughly two weeks earlier than non-incumbents — in 2026, February 17 versus March 2. Offices filled only at the general election have a parallel pair of deadlines in mid-July and early August. Petition candidates file later still, in early August for partisan offices and around September 1 for nonpartisan offices.
The nonpartisan Legislature
Nebraska's unicameral Legislature is elected nonpartisan: no party designation appears on the primary or general ballot, and the top two primary finishers advance regardless of affiliation. Legislative candidates pay a flat $120 fee and need no signatures. This eliminates the independent-candidate ballot access problem for legislative races entirely, which is why petition work in Nebraska concentrates on statewide offices and ballot measures.
Who may circulate
Circulators must be at least 18. Nebraska's residency requirement for circulators was struck down in Citizens in Charge v. Gale (D. Neb. 2011), and the state's pay-per-signature ban was repealed by the Legislature in 2015 — making Nebraska one of the more open markets for professional circulation. Circulators may sign the petitions they carry. Paid circulators must disclose their paid status in large red lettering on the petition, and every sheet requires a notarized circulator oath.
Filing before you circulate
Before a single signature may be collected, sponsors must file with the Secretary of State a statement of the object of the petition, the full text of the measure, and a sworn list of the names and street addresses of every person or entity sponsoring it. The Secretary transmits the text to the Revisor of Statutes for review within ten business days. The object statement must appear in large type on every signature sheet along with the full text of the measure.
Verification and what gets thrown out
County election officials verify signatures against registration records and may stop once they confirm signatures in excess of 110% of the requirement. Signatures are invalid if the signer was not registered by the filing deadline, if the same person signed more than once, or — fatally for the whole sheet — if the circulator's oath was not properly notarized. Only the first 20 signatures on a sheet are counted. Nebraska applies a substantial-compliance standard to clerical and technical errors, but not to the notarization defect. There is no cure period.
Ballot Measures in Nebraska
Nebraska allows initiated constitutional amendments, initiated statutes, and veto referendums. Sponsors must file the object statement, measure text, and a sworn sponsor list with the Secretary of State before circulating. Thresholds are 10% of registered voters for constitutional amendments, 7% for statutes, and 5% for referendums (10% to suspend the law pending the vote), with the added requirement that signatures include 5% of registered voters in each of 38 of the 93 counties — a distribution rule that survived challenge in Bernbeck v. Gale when the Eighth Circuit vacated on standing grounds. Signatures are due at least four months before the general election, and referendum signatures within 90 days of the Legislature's adjournment; there is no fixed start date, so the practical window can approach two years, though signatures expire at the next general election occurring four or more months after they were gathered. Electronic signatures are prohibited. Beyond the signature count, a measure must win a majority and draw yes votes equal to at least 35% of all ballots cast.
What Trips Campaigns Up in Nebraska
We've Worked This Ground
Nebraska Ballot Access FAQ
Why does Nebraska's signature target keep moving?
Because it is a percentage of registered voters at the filing deadline rather than a percentage of past turnout. As voter registration grows during your circulation period, so does the number of valid signatures you need. Every other state in this group keys off a fixed historical vote total.
Can out-of-state circulators work in Nebraska?
Yes. A federal court struck down Nebraska's circulator residency requirement in Citizens in Charge v. Gale (2011), and the Legislature repealed the pay-per-signature ban in 2015. Circulators must be 18, must disclose paid status in large red lettering, and must sign a notarized oath.
Do Nebraska legislative candidates need petitions?
No. The Legislature is elected on a nonpartisan top-two ballot, and candidates qualify by paying a flat $120 filing fee by the applicable February or March deadline. Petitions are only needed for candidates who miss the filing window or run for other nonpartisan offices.
How many counties must a Nebraska initiative reach?
Thirty-eight — two-fifths of the 93 counties — and in each of those counties the petition must carry signatures from at least 5% of that county's registered voters. Statewide totals alone are never sufficient.
Running a Campaign in This State?
Signature requirements are the easy part. Hitting them on deadline is the job.