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By JOSH FUNK / The Associated Press | Posted: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 3:15 pm

Nebraska's law requiring petition circulators to be residents of the state has been found unconstitutional, but several other petition-drive restrictions were upheld.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon ruled Tuesday in two lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and several petition organizers. The lawsuits argued that changes the state Legislature made in 2007 and 2008 illegally restricted political speech by putting an unfair burden on groups trying to force a vote on an issue and on independent candidates.

Bataillon ruled that the state's ban on out-of-state petition workers unfairly infringed on organizers' constitutional rights and made it harder to conduct a petition drive.

An April trial has been set in a constitutional challenge to Nebraska laws that govern petition signature requirements for ballot initiatives and independent candidates.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska said in the 2009 lawsuit that changes to state law made in 2007 and 2008 unfairly burden independent candidates and residents trying to get initiatives on the ballot, thus violating protected political speech.

The suit seeks to have those changes thrown out. A non-jury trial is scheduled to be held April 21 in U.S. District Court in Omaha, court records show.

One of the changes being challenged increased the number of petition signatures required for independent candidates to get on the ballot from 2,000 to 4,000, with at least 50 of those signatures coming from at least 31 of Nebraska's 93 counties.

A change made in 2008 requires all petition circulators to be electors of the state of Nebraska.

Lastly, the lawsuit objects to Nebraska's “scarlet letter” law, which requires all petitions to bear in large red type whether the petition gatherers are paid or volunteer.

Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale, whose office oversees state elections and who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, has defended the requirements.

ACLU Nebraska is suing on behalf of Citizens in Charge Foundation Inc., along with Michael Groene of North Platte, a frequent petition signature gatherer for ballot initiatives, and Donald Sluti of Kearney, who believes the law makes it impossible for him to get on the ballot as an independent candidate. The Libertarian Party of Nebraska later joined the lawsuit

Nebraska got an F on its ballot initiative process from a progressive think tank that wants to limit fraud in the process.

By Martha Stoddard
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s petition law can stand for now.

A federal judge has refused to issue an injunction allowing out-of-state residents to collect petition signatures in the state.

But a lawsuit challenging that and other aspects of the law will proceed, attorney Bryan Sells said Friday.