Campaign finance requirements for Nebraska ballot measures

---

This article does not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

---

Groups and individuals involved in ballot measure campaigns in Nebraska must adhere to the state's campaign finance laws. These laws regulate the amounts and sources of money given or received for political purposes; in addition, campaign finance laws stipulate disclosure requirements for political contributions and expenditures.

Proponents of more stringent regulations and disclosure requirements, such as the Brennan Center for Justice, claim that current laws do not go far enough to mitigate corruption and the influence of undisclosed special interests. Others, such as the Institute for Free Speech, argue that strict disclosure requirements and contribution limits impinge upon the rights to privacy and free expression.

Nebraska state law defines a ballot question committee as "any combination of two or more individuals that receives contributions or makes expenditures of more than $5,000 during a calendar year to support or oppose the qualification, passage or defeat of a ballot question." There are no limits on the amounts of money that can be contributed to ballot question committees.

The laws and regulations that apply to ballot measure campaigns may differ from those that apply to candidates for political office. To learn more about campaign finance requirements for candidates, see this article.

Nebraska ballot measures

See also: Ballot measure

A ballot measure is any question or issue that appears on an election ballot to be approved or rejected by voters. In 26 states, plus Washington, D.C., citizens may use the initiative and referendum process, which permits citizens to petition to place measures on the ballot and usually involves a signature collection process of some kind. Even in states without initiative and referendum processes, however, ballot measures exist. In all states, citizens may be asked to approve legislatively referred constitutional amendments, state statutes, bond issues or tax proposals.

In Nebraska, ballot measures come in the following forms: legislatively referred state statutes, initiated state statutes, legislatively referred constitutional amendments, initiated constitutional amendments and veto referenda.

Organizational requirements

Nebraska state law defines a ballot question committee as "any combination of two or more individuals that receives contributions or makes expenditures of more than $5,000 during a calendar year to support or oppose the qualification, passage or defeat of a ballot question." Upon meeting the aforementioned threshold, a ballot question committee must do the following:

1. appoint a treasurer
2. designate a bank account for campaign funds
3. file a statement of organization form within 10 days of the committee's formation (this form must be filed with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission)
4. pay a $100 filing fee

See form: Statement of Organization of a Political Committee

Contribution limits

Under Nebraska state law, "there are no dollar limitations on the amount that a person may contribute to a ballot question committee." Cash contributions exceeding $50 are prohibited, as are anonymous contributions.

Reporting requirements

Ballot issue committees must file periodic campaign finance statements. The statements detail the committee's financial activities during a given reporting period. For contributions exceeding $250, the committee must disclose the name and address of the donor. For expenditures exceeding $250, the campaign must report the name and address of the recipient, as well as the amount and purpose of the expenditure.

1. The first campaign statement "is due 30 days before the election, with a closing date of 35 days before the election."
2. The second campaign statement "is due 10 days before the election, with a closing date of 15 days before the election."
3. The post-election campaign statement "is due 40 days after the election, with a closing date of 35 days after the election.." If the committee is supporting or opposing a ballot measure that appears on the general election ballot, the report "is due 70 days after the election with a closing date of December 31."

Contributions of $1,000 or more that are made during the 14-day period preceding an election must be reported within two calendar days of receipt.

Committees involved in petition drives are held to the following additional reporting requirements:

1. "A campaign statement is due on the last day of the calendar month in which the petition form is filed with the secretary of state ... with a closing date of five days before the end of the month."
2. "Additional campaign statements are due on the last day of each calendar month after the petition form is filed with the secretary of state through the month prior to the deadline for submitting petition signatures, with closing dates of five days before the end of each month."
3. "A campaign statement is due 30 days after the deadline for submitting petition signatures to the secretary of state, with a closing date of 25days after the petition deadline."

In order to disband, a ballot issue committee must file a form and demonstrate that all of the following criteria have been met:

1. The committee "does not expect to receive additional contributions."
2. The committee "has paid all of its outstanding debts."
3. The committee "has disposed of all unexpended funds and any other committee assets."

Year-specific reporting dates

2016

The table below lists relevant campaign finance report filing deadlines in Nebraska in 2016.

Campaign finance reporting deadlines in Nebraska, 2016
Report	Reporting period	Filing deadline
First pre-primary statement	January 1 through April 5, 2016	April 11, 2016
Second pre-primary statement	April 6 through April 25, 2016	May 2, 2016
Post-primary statement	April 26 through June 14, 2016	June 20, 2016
First pre-general statement	June 15 through October 4, 2016	October 11, 2016
Second pre-general statement	October 5 through October 24, 2016	October 31, 2016
Post-general statement	October 25 through December 31, 2016	January 17, 2017
Source: Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "Important Dates," accessed December 7, 2015

State agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Nebraska

In Nebraska, there is one primary agency involved in campaign finance regulation.

Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission

P.O. Box 95086

Lincoln, Nebraska 68509

Telephone: (402) 471-2522

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Nebraska state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nebraska campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements for Nebraska ballot measures - Google News

See also

• Campaign finance requirements in Nebraska
• Campaign finance agencies in Nebraska
• List of Nebraska ballot measures

External links

Additional reading

• Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "Ballot Question Committee Treasurer's Guide," accessed December 7, 2015