LINCOLN – Today Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale announced that he would only comply with a request to share information about Nebraska voters with the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity “with assurance that this request meets compliance with Nebraska law” and answers to “how the data will be used, how it will be secured and how it might be publicly shared.”
“This is a victory for Nebraska’s election integrity and Nebraska voter’s personal privacy. In line with our proud Nebraska values the salvation of the state continues to be the watchfulness of the citizen. The reaction from Nebraska voters to this breathtakingly broad request for personal information was resounding and clear – Nebraskans don’t want their private information to be turned over to the federal government or to be made public. The ACLU commends Secretary of State John Gale for shutting the door on this unusual commission’s unprecedented request for information. The request attacks the integrity of Nebraska elections and unnecessarily risks Nebraska voter’s personal privacy. Secretary Gale also indicated with appropriate ‘assurances’ he may comply with future requests to divulge this sensitive information. A wink and a nod is not good enough under Nebraska law. We pledge to stay vigilant and ask Secretary Gale to stand strong as well,” said Danielle Conrad, Executive Director ACLU of Nebraska.
Bri McLarty Huppert, Director of Voting Rights at Nebraskans for Civic Reform added “Nebraska law and Nebraska’s hardworking election officials already have appropriate safeguards in place to prevent voter fraud in Nebraska. All voters in Nebraska should have the expectation that Sec. Gale sticks to his word. While we commend Secretary Gale for closing the door on this bizarre request we renew our request that he convenes a group of Nebraska stakeholders to evaluate future requests and “assurances,” open public hearings with Nebraska voters to learn more about their concerns, and make public all future correspondence with members of this commission so Nebraska voters can decide for themselves if their private information will be protected.”
