Opinion ID: 1572689
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: number of signatures

Text: The relator first complains that the district court erred in failing to find that the secretary wrongly determined that a total of 98,939 valid signatures were required. In order to determine how many registered voters there were in Nebraska at the relevant date, the secretary asked the county election officials to provide the number of registered voters in their respective counties at the close of business on July 5, 1996, the date by which the petitions were due to be turned in to him. See § 32-1407(1) (petitions due 4 months prior to general election). The relator argues that the number set by the secretary was too high because it included so-called inactive registrants, that is, those registered but for whom the county election official had received information that they had moved. Such registrants are not removed from the voter rolls because some of the information is inaccurate and because removal requires additional confirmation that the registrant has in fact moved, as provided in Neb.Rev.Stat. § 32-326 (Cum.Supp.1996). The term registered voter is statutorily defined as an elector who has a current voter registration record on file with the election commissioner or county clerk in the county of his or her residence. Neb.Rev. Stat. § 32-115 (Cum.Supp.1996). Thus, the relator's position that inactive voters do not have current registration records and should not be counted as voters is without merit, and the secretary's determination as to the number of signatures required has not been shown to be wrong.