§ 32-716 — New political party; formation; petition; requirements

Nebraska § 32-716

• Jurisdiction: Nebraska
• Ch. 32: Elections

Text

(1) Any person, group, or association desiring to form a new political party shall present to the Secretary of State petitions containing signatures totaling not less than one percent of the total votes cast for Governor at the most recent general election for such office. The signatures of registered voters on such petitions shall be so distributed as to include registered voters totaling at least one percent of the votes cast for Governor in the most recent gubernatorial election in each of the three congressional districts in this state. Petition signers and petition circulators shall conform to the requirements of sections 32-629 and 32-630 . The petitions shall be filed with the Secretary of State no later than January 15 before any statewide primary election for the new political party to be entitled to have ballot position in the primary election of that year. If the new political party desires to be established and have ballot position for the general election and not in the primary election of that year, the petitions shall be filed with the Secretary of State on or before July 15 of that year. Prior to the circulation of petitions to form a new political party, a sample copy of the petitions shall be filed with the Secretary of State by the person, group, or association seeking to establish the new party. The sample petition shall be accompanied by the name and address of the person or the names and addresses of the members of the group or association sponsoring the petition to form a new political party. Sponsors of the petition may be added or removed with the unanimous written consent of the original sponsor or sponsors at any time prior to or on the day the petition is filed for verification with the Secretary of State. The sponsor or sponsors of the petition shall file, as one instrument, all petition papers comprising a new political party petition for signature verification with the Secretary of State. All signed petitions in circulation but not filed with the Secretary of State shall become invalid after July 15 in the year of the statewide general election.
(2) The petition shall conform to the requirements of sections 32-628 and 32-716.01 . The Secretary of State shall prescribe the form of the petition for the formation of a new political party. The petition shall be addressed to and filed with the Secretary of State and shall state its purpose and the name of the party to be formed. Such name shall not be or include the name of any political party then in existence or any word forming any part of the name of any political party then in existence, and in order to avoid confusion regarding party affiliation of a candidate or registered voter, the name of the party to be formed shall not include the word "independent" or "nonpartisan".

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1994, LB 76, § 216; Laws 1997, LB 460, § 4; Laws 2006, LB 940, § 1; Laws 2021, LB285, § 12; Laws 2024, LB287, § 37; Laws 2025, LB521, § 58. Operative Date: September 3, 2025 Annotations: A candidate for a newly formed political party need not comply with the provisions of section 32-515. State ex rel. Chambers v. Beermann, 229 Neb. 696, 428 N.W.2d 883 (1988). This section authorizes and outlines the procedure for formation of new political parties. State ex rel. Beeson v. Marsh, 150 Neb. 233, 34 N.W.2d 279 (1948). The method that the statute provides for the formation of a new political party is mandatory. State ex rel. Nelson v. Marsh, 123 Neb. 423, 243 N.W. 277 (1932). Under the prior law, a state convention to form a new political party required five hundred electors to be present at a mass convention. State ex rel. Stephens v. Marsh, 117 Neb. 579, 221 N.W. 708 (1928). This statute is unconstitutional as relates to requirements for independent candidates for President and Vice President of United States. MacBride v. Exon, 558 F.2d 443 (8th Cir. 1977). Portion of subsection (1) of this section governing formation of new political parties which required signatures equal to one percent of persons voting in most recent gubernatorial race to be distributed among at least one-fifth of counties in state and which required signers of petitions for formation of new parties to pledge to support party, to support its candidates, and to change their registration to affiliate with petitioning party was unconstitutional and void. Portion of subsection (3) of this section requiring petition circulators to be registered voters and residents of state and county in which they were circulating petitions to get party on ballot was valid exercise of state's power to protect its compelling interest in maintaining integrity of election process. Libertarian Party of Nebraska v. Beermann, 598 F.Supp. 57 (D. Neb. 1984).