Chicago – October 27, 2024
Around 7,000 Nebraskans with past felony convictions almost couldn’t register to vote this election. But now, Nebraska residents with felony records who have completed their sentences have until Friday, Nov. 1, to sign up to vote.
This comes after a last-minute decision by the state’s highest court on Oct. 16, which rejected Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen’s claim that a new voting law violated the state constitution.
Evnen, a Republican, had argued that the law, passed in April, should not go into effect.
For the past 20 years, Nebraska required that people with felony records wait two years after completing their sentence to be eligible to vote. But with this new law and the court’s decision, there is no longer a two-year wait.
Now, voting rights advocates in Nebraska are working quickly to help people register before Friday’s deadline, just over a week before Election Day.
