‘Never Residents’ Can Vote in Nebraska Elections. This Lawsuit Could Change That.

The state of Nebraska allows U.S. citizens who never lived in the state and who currently reside overseas to vote in its elections, prompting a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee.

The RNC is joined in the lawsuit by two Nebraska voters, Jack Riggins and Pamela Dingman, who filed the complaint in Lancaster County District Court alleging the 2010 law allowing non-residents to vote is a violation of the state constitution. The law was passed to enact protections for service members and other Americans living abroad.

Lawsuits such as this one could play out in state courts across the country. The RNC successfully challenged a similar law in North Carolina, and 38 states have some form of voting eligibility for citizens living abroad who never lived in the respective states.

Article VI, Section 1, of the Nebraska Constitution specifies that those eligible to vote in the state must be U.S. citizens who are at least 18 and “have resided within the state and the county and voting precinct” in which they are casting a vote.

The Nebraska law says, “a person who is the age of an elector and a citizen of the United States residing outside the United States, who has never resided in the United States, who has not registered to vote in any other state of the United States, and who has a parent registered to vote within this state shall be eligible to register to vote and vote in one county in which either one of his or her parents is a registered voter.”

The 2010 state law was passed to implement the requirements of the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, which President Barack Obama signed the year prior to provide more voting protections for American citizens, including but not limited to members of the military.

Three dozen states allow some form of voting eligibility for people born abroad who have never lived in the United States but have parents living in that particular state, according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program. This includes a mix of red and blue states.

Earlier this month, a North Carolina court ruled “never residents” are not eligible to vote in state elections, siding with the RNC, which was also a plaintiff in the case.

The lawsuit names Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen, a Republican with oversight of state elections, as the defendant. A spokesman for Evnen’s office did not respond to inquiries from the Daily Signal by publication time.

The RNC stressed that the lawsuit does not affect service members or overseas voters who previously lived in Nebraska and remain legally eligible to vote under state and federal law.

“Nebraska’s Constitution is clear: voters must live in Nebraska,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement. “This law tries to get around that requirement by allowing people who have never lived in the state to vote. The RNC is fighting to stop it and ensure Nebraska elections are decided by Nebraska voters only.”

However, Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb accused Republicans of seeking to disenfranchise eligible voters.

“Nebraska Republicans are so afraid of voters – because of their radical, failed policies – that they’re now trying to deny Americans the right to vote,” Kleeb said. “Military families and Americans working overseas have children who are, per our Constitution, Americans too. This lawsuit says those young people wouldn’t be allowed to vote.”