U.S. District Court overturns law that increased requirements for independent candidates

LINCOLN, Neb. — A law that required Independent candidates in Nebraska to collect more than 100,000 signatures in order to run for state office has been overturned by the U.S. District Court.

The law, overturned on Thursday, required nonpartisan candidates to collect signatures from at least 10 percent of the state's registered voters, or about 119,000 voters. It was was introduced by Republican State Senator John Murante and signed into law by Gov. Pete Ricketts in 2016.

It would have made Nebraska one of the most difficult states to place an Independent candidate on the ballot - 37 other states only require 10,000 or fewer signatures.

Previously, Independent candidates in Nebraska needed 4,000 signatures to qualify.

Sen. Bob Krist, candidate for Nebraska Governor, made the following statement regarding Thursday's U.S. District Court ruling:

I applaud today’s decision by the U.S. District Court that ruled the law signed into law by Gov. Ricketts is unconstitutional. This law was a slap in the face to 21 percent of registered Nebraska voters who are non-partisans. It was pure and simple an attempt by Pete Ricketts - the most partisan governor in Nebraska history - to silence independent voices that disagree with his heavy-handed tactics of stacking the deck and buying legislators. This ruling reflects the ‘Nebraska Way’ - nonpartisan, independent thinking that has been our hallmark for generations. No matter their party label, we have a long history of electing strong, independent candidates. Thankfully, our system of checks and balances worked.