Electronic petition signatures proposed

Electronic signatures would be accepted on petitions under a bill heard by the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee Feb. 18.

LB214, introduced by Columbus Sen. Paul Schumacher, would require the secretary of state to accept verified electronic signatures on all petitions. Schumacher said that accepting electronic signatures would make the petition process more accessible to citizens.

“The Constitution says that the initiative petition process is the first right of the people reserved,” he said. “It is the right of the people to initiate legislation and to make changes in their document, the Constitution.”

Any person wishing to sign a petition electronically would be required to also provide their name, address, county of residence, political party affiliation and date of birth. The signature would then be matched and verified with current voter registration information.

Kent Bernbeck of Omaha spoke in favor of the bill, saying that allowing people to sign a petition in the comfort of their home or office would make the process better.

“[LB214 would allow people] to go home and read an issue, research the issue and then sign a petition without the pressure of a petition circulator holding a clipboard in front of you,” he said. “I think it would be advantageous to the system and make it so that regular people can participate.”

The secretary of state would mail a postcard to an electronic signer, notifying the person that their signature was received, identifying the petition to which the signature was attached and providing the signer 10 days to dispute the validity of an electronic signature.

Neal Erickson, deputy secretary of state, opposed the bill. He said that the state should monitor current pilot projects before deploying the provisions of the bill.

“The process of using online petitions is in its infancy,” he said. “We think it’s best to start in a smaller arena rather than the initiative referendum process where adjustments and fixes could be achieved.”

The bill also would establish a filing fee of $10,000 for constitutional amendment initiatives and a $5,000 fee for all other petitions if the sponsor intends to accept electronic signatures. Any petition sponsor could opt out of accepting electronic signatures when filing their petition with the secretary of state.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.