What to do when petitioners behave badly

Dear Voting Rights Advocate,

I’ve got bad news, good news, and a quick comment for you.

The bad news: Paid, out-of-state petition circulators gathering signatures in support of imposing voter ID in Nebraska are breaking almost every rule in the book.

The good news: This could pave the way for a legal challenge of this harmful petition’s validity.

The comment: We need your help!

To build a potential challenge, gathering evidence of obvious malpractice is vital. We have a great start and have already collected a large amount of information, but there are new reports of circulators misrepresenting the petition’s goal, not reading the initiative’s object statement aloud, using confusing language to get people to sign, and other infractions almost daily. [More]

That’s where you come in. When you spot a voter ID petition circulator, record them with a cell phone to document all of the details of your interaction. Note the date, time, location, and specific details about the circulator and what, specifically, they are doing (or not doing).

You can then email me at john.cartier@civicnebraska.org, and we’ll take it from there. If you have any questions, please call our Election Protection Line at 402-890-5291 or email me directly.

Thanks for all that you do,

John Cartier
Director of Voting Rights Initiatives
Civic Nebraska