Respect Nebraska Voters, the campaign behind an initiative to require a four-fifths legislative vote both to change laws governing the initiative and referendum process and to amend or repeal voter-approved initiatives, submitted more than 186,000 signatures on July 2.
The initiated constitutional amendment would increase the vote threshold from two-thirds to four-fifths to change or repeal an approved ballot initiative. It would also require changes to the initiative process itself to be approved by four-fifths of state legislators and must be "to advance a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means."
There are 21 states that authorize the use of initiated state statutes. Nebraska is one of 10 states that has restrictions on how and when the legislature can amend or repeal voter-approved initiatives, with eight states requiring a supermajority vote or a time requirement and two states requiring voter approval. The 11 other states have no restrictions.
