LINCOLN — A Lancaster District Court judge has dismissed objections to two new Nebraska political parties from the state’s two major parties.
Judge Darla Ideus said the Nebraska Democratic Party and National Working Families Party filed their objections too late for the Nebraska Working People Party.
In a separate ruling, she ruled that state law doesn’t address the “confusion” that the Republican Party is claiming the America First Party would cause for voters.
“The statute simply does not address this kind of ‘confusion.’ Also, the America First Party has not yet nominated any candidates,” Ideus wrote in her order on the Republican lawsuit. “The America First Party’s members and candidates might support the ‘America First’ agenda as the Nebraska Republican Party understands it. If so, then it is hard to see in what relevant sense the voters will be confused.”
GOP lawyers had asked Ideus to give Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen more authority to reject a party or candidate. In its lawsuit, the GOP has called John Cartier’s effort to establish the America First Party “political sabotage.”
Attorneys for the Nebraska Democratic Party and the national Working Families Party had sought to compel Evnen to remove the Nebraska Working People Party because its name is too similar to the Working Families Party.
In her ruling on the Democratic lawsuit, Ideus pointed to the Nebraska Supreme Court’s ruling on the candidacy of former Democratic Senate candidate Cindy Burbank, which overruled Evnen’s decision to remove her from the primary ballot because Republicans had filed their objection too late.
Evnen’s lawyer had argued during the hearing on the Working People Party that a seven-day window to object started after the last day to turn in signatures for a new party — July 15. The Democratic Party filed its objection Aug. 9.
Robin Richards, sponsor of the Nebraska Working People Party, said the court decision “marks a significant victory for voter choice and the hardworking people of Nebraska.”
“For too long, Nebraska’s working families have upheld their end of the social contract. They work diligently, pay their taxes, raise their children, and sustain their communities. Yet, they have been met with a government and a political class that has failed to reciprocate that commitment,” Richards said.
With the emergency injunction delaying their certification being lifted, both parties will likely be certified.
Originally published on nebraskaexaminer.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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