Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen says the state’s election system worked as intended after election officials uncovered fraudulent signatures during the 2026 petition process. At a Thursday afternoon news conference, Evnen said every petition signature submitted in Nebraska is checked, not just a sample.
“The attempt to perpetrate signature fraud in the petition process of our state is a despicable act. But here’s what I want Nebraskans to know today. We caught it.” More than 767,000 signatures were submitted to counties in support of 17 petitions this year. Evnen says more than 542,000 were ultimately accepted.
Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen says his office strengthened its verification procedures following questionable petition circulators during the 2024 medical cannabis petition drive.
Wiltgen says election staff verify each signer against voter registration records before comparing the signature with signatures already on file. “We must also safeguard the petition process so that all Nebraskans have confidence in it.”
Wiltgen says petition pages containing suspected fraudulent signatures were referred to law enforcement. Evnen says he plans to work with Governor Jim Pillen and lawmakers on changes to the petition process, including banning payment of circulators based on the number of signatures they collect.
Proposed legislation would also require circulators to be U.S. citizens, prohibit felons from circulating petitions and require training. Evnen says Nebraskans should have confidence in the state’s election system, saying, “Our system worked.”
Governor Jim Pillen is supporting legislation that would prohibit paying petition circulators based on the number of signatures they collect. He says the current “bounty” system can encourage aggressive quotas and fraudulent signature collection.
“Moving to an hourly compensation model reframes the circulator’s role, encouraging thorough and accurate and lawful conversations with everyday Nebraskans, rather than warp-speed quota chasing,” Pillen says.
Six people from several states have been arrested as part of a historic criminal investigation into widespread ballot petition and election-related signature fraud across Nebraska.