From the Lincoln Journal Star:
Nobody really doubted the death penalty referendum petition campaign would have enough signatures verified to hold up the Legislature’s repeal.
The campaign turned in nearly 167,000 signatures, when it needed 113,883, and a state-required cushion of slightly more than 125,000.
It’s not yet official, but the Secretary of State’s office said Friday it appears enough petition signatures have been certified and verified to stop the death penalty repeal from becoming law until a vote of the people in November 2016.
Chris Peterson, who co-managed the petition campaign along with Jessica Flanagain, a privately paid senior aide to Gov. Pete Ricketts, said they only were surprised at the speed with which county clerks and election commissioners were verifying signatures. They had until mid-October.
“I’m guessing that must mean the county reviews of the petitions haven’t encountered many hiccups. That’s a credit to the hard work of our circulators and our petition drive’s focus on compliance,” Peterson said.
The senator who brought the repeal bill to the Legislature — Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers — even said it was a forgone conclusion the signatures would be obtained. But he’s confident, he said, that the repeal (LB268) will take effect.
The election will not turn out the way the Ricketts family wanted, and what they financed, he said.
“I feel a deep, settled sense of serenity and peace about the whole thing,” he said. “I’ve never had the sense of confidence and serenity that I feel now.”