With the results of the election officially in, many young voters find themselves confused about the meaning of their state’s ballot initiatives, often overshadowed by the presidential election.
Nebraska saw six initiatives and referendums this election, each one with differing implications.
The Daily Nebraskan spoke to two University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professors who shared their insight on the results of each initiative.
Referendum Measure 435 ‘Private Education Scholarship Partial Referendum’
According to political science professor Kevin Smith, Nebraskans voted to repeal a law that made $10 million in “state money” available in scholarships to students who attend private K-12 schools.
“I think for a lot of voters, (the referendum) might have been confusing, because it’s not like a yes or no right sort of thing,” Smith said. “But this is something that public school teachers were not super thrilled about. They wanted that law repealed.”
Visiting assistant professor of political science Kyle Hull said the vote to repeal affirmed Nebraskan’s commitment to public education.
“The benefit will still be that there’s a tax benefit for donating to education, which is good, and I think most people still support that, and it would certainly advocate for donating more to public education when possible,” Hull said. “Largely, I think it’s a reflection of how important public education is, and how much people want reform for our educational system and how we fund public education.”
57.06% voted “repeal” and 42.94% voted “retain,” according to the Nebraska Secretary of State Office.
Initiative Measure 436 ‘Paid Sick Leave’
According to the Nebraska Secretary of State Office, Initiative Measure 436 initiated a state statute that provides Nebraskans with the right to paid sick leave. Employers with fewer than 20 employees are required to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, and employers with more than 20 employees are required to provide 56 hours per year.
Nebraskans widely supported paid sick leave for years. According to Hull, polls from 2015 and 2018 suggested that roughly 91% of Democrats, 80% of Independents and 74% of Republicans supported the idea.
“I think it’s a reflection that ballot initiatives have been a great mechanism for people to get the policies which clearly the majority of Nebraskans want, and a big win for that kind of social policy and that mechanism to do it,” Hull said.
74.7% of voters voted for paid sick leave and 25.75% voted against it, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State Office.
Initiative Measure 437 ‘Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection’ and Initiative Measure 438 ‘Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation’
Both Initiative Measure 437 and 438 relate to the legalization of medical marijuana.
According to Smith, Initiative Measure 437 makes it legal to have up to five ounces of marijuana with a doctor’s prescription.
Initiative Measure 438 establishes a board to oversee and regulate the use of medical marijuana, according to Hull.
The two initiatives were written and presented separately to keep them within the limits of the amount that ballot initiatives can do under the Nebraska constitution, Hull said.
“It has been pretty standard in other states for these to be pushed through at the same time. The language that was used in these has been used virtually identically in other states,” Hull said. “Some of these ballot initiatives tend to be diffused throughout in a copy and paste method, in a way, just because it works. If it passes in one state, it makes sense to use it elsewhere.”
70.74% of voters were for Initiative Measure 437 and 29.26% were against it. 66.95% of voters were for Initiative Measure 438 and 33.05% were against it, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State Office.
According to Hull, the discrepancy in approval levels between the two initiatives is likely due to the longer and more confusing nature of Initiative Measure 438 when compared to 437.
Initiative Measure 434 ‘Protect Women and Children’ and Initiative Measure 439 ‘Protect the Right to Abortion’
Initiative Measures 434 and 439 were competing abortion-related initiatives.
Initiative Measure 434 upheld the current abortion ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy, making it a part of the Nebraska constitution and harder to change in the future, according to Hull.
According to the Nebraska Secretary of State Office, if initiative Measure 439 passed, it would have allowed for abortion until “fetal viability.”
Smith said voters expressed concerns about Initiative Measure 434, as its language left loopholes that could allow further abortion restrictions. However, it prevailed over Initiative Measure 439 perhaps due to its more objective wording, he said.
“I think (the language) was confusing for a lot of people,” Smith said. “When you’re talking about twelve weeks, that’s easier to understand than fetal viability.”
55.32% voted for Initiative Measure 434 and 44.68% voted against it, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State Office. 48.55% voted for Initiative Measure 439 and 51.54% voted against it.
If both received the 50% of votes required to pass, the initiative with the greater number of votes would have prevailed, according to Hull.
“Politically, it’s unfortunate for the research and observation side of things (that 439 didn’t receive 50% of votes.) I don’t know if that’s ever happened before in any state, so it’s a missed opportunity to see that play out,” Hull said.
Further descriptions and the full text of each initiative can be found in the informational pamphlet distributed by the Nebraska Secretary of State Office.
This post was originally published on here
