Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen said Monday he believes Nebraska should reconsider allowing people to be paid to gather signatures for ballot initiatives, calling the practice fundamentally wrong and suggesting lawmakers could address it in the next legislative session.
Pillen made the comments during the Nebraska Broadcasters Association’s monthly statewide call-in program as he responded to questions about an ongoing investigation into fraudulent signatures on petition and ballot initiatives. Pillen said the Legislature changed state law several years ago to allow signature gatherers to be paid.
Pillen believes citizens should be able to come together voluntarily to put an issue before voters. He questioned whether an issue truly represents the public if organizers have to pay people to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
“Money messes things up,” Pillen said, arguing against what he called “bounty” payments based on the number of signatures collected. He said the practice is “fundamentally wrong” from his perspective.
Pillen was asked whether legislation could be introduced during the next legislative session to address the issue. He believes recent developments and confusion surrounding petition initiatives have prompted Nebraskans to demand action. “I think the people are screaming for it,” Pillen said.
He did not outline specific legislation he would support and did not say whether he wants to prohibit all compensation for petition workers or specifically ban payments tied to the number of signatures collected.
The discussion came as the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office leads an investigation into allegations involving fraudulent petition signatures. Pillen did not discuss the details of the investigation or identify any campaign or organization as being responsible for wrongdoing.
Instead, Pillen praised law enforcement and county election officials and said the allegations demonstrate the importance of election integrity. “Election integrity is really important and this would be an example of it.”