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Campaign finance requirements in Nebraska
 in Nebraska |
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Federal campaign finance laws and regulations |
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| Campaign finance reform |
| History of campaign finance reform |
| State by state comparison of campaign finance reporting requirements |
| Election policy |
| State information |
Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates and campaigns may receive from individuals and organizations, how they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political parties may contribute to campaigns. In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.
This page provides background on campaign finance regulation, lists contribution limits to state candidates and ballot measures in Nebraska, compares contribution limits to gubernatorial and state legislative candidates in Nebraska with those from other states, and details the candidate reporting requirements in Nebraska.
The information on this page pertains to candidates for state office and state ballot measures. Candidates for federal office are subject to federal campaign finance law. Candidates for local office are subject to all applicable state laws as well as any separate local campaign finance regulations.[1]
Background
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and overseeing public funding of presidential elections.[2] According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.[3]
The Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election.[4] In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remained unchanged.[5][6] In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.[7]
While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states enforce their own regulation and reporting requirements. Regulations vary by state, as do limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections. Candidates for local office must follow any applicable state and local campaign finance regulations.
Contribution limits
The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Nebraska as of July 2025. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.
| Individuals | Single candidates committees | PACs | Political party | Super PACs | Corporations | Unions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide Candidate (incl. Governor) | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Senate | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| PAC | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Party committees | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Ballot measures | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited | ||
| Sources: National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2025-2026 Election Cycle," accessed July 24, 2025 | |||||||||
State comparisons in the 2024 elections
Candidate reporting requirements
See statutes: Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act (NPADA)
Once a candidate for state or local office raises, receives or spends $5,000 or more in a calendar year, he or she must register the candidate committee (which consists, at minimum, of the candidate) with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission by submitting a Statement of Organization and paying a $100 filing fee.[9][10]
When a candidate forms a committee, he or she must appoint a treasurer (the candidate may serve in this role) and establish an account in a Nebraska financial institution as an official depository for all contributions received. All expenditures to support the candidate's election must be made from this account.[11][12][9]
Candidates are required to submit regular finance reports during primary and general election campaigns. These statements must include the following information:[13]
- the committee's name, address and telephone number, as well as the full name, residential and business addresses and telephone numbers of the committee's treasurer
- under the heading "Receipts":
- the total amount of contributions received during the period covered by the statement
- under the heading "Expenditures":
- the total amount of expenditures made during the period covered by the statement
- the cumulative amount of these totals for the election period
- the balance of cash and equivalents on hand at the beginning and end of the period covered by the statement
- the full name, address, amount and date of contribution and cumulative contribution total for each individual whose contributions totaled more than $250 during the period covered by the report
- the full name and street address of each person to whom expenditures totaling more than $250 were made, as well as the date and amount of each separate expenditure to each such person during the period covered by the statement; purpose of expenditure must also be noted
Note: This is not an exhaustive list. For complete information, see Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act, Section 49-1455.
Generally, regular campaign finance reports include the following: a first primary statement, a second primary statement, a post-primary statement, a first general statement, a second general statement, and a post-general statement.[11]
Campaign finance legislation
The table below displays bills related to campaign finance introduced during or carried over to Nebraska's current legislative session.[14]
Election and campaign ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked 8 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.
- Nebraska Voting on Merging Governments, Amendment 10 (1896)
- Nebraska Voting Methods, Amendment 11 (1896)
- Nebraska Voting on Internal Improvement and Manufacturing Donations, Amendment 12 (1896)
- Nebraska Voting Requirements, Amendment 1 (1910)
- Nebraska Referendum 1, Direct Primaries Referendum (1920)
- Nebraska Referendum 3, Direct Primaries and Nominations Referendum (1922)
- Nebraska Amendment 1, Direct Primaries and Nonpartisan Elections Initiative (1924)
- Nebraska Initiative Measure 410, Changes to Initiative Signature Requirements Amendment (1996)
Election administration agencies
Election agencies
- See also: State election agencies
Individuals seeking additional information about election administration in Nebraska can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Nebraska Election Officials
Nebraska Secretary of State, Elections Division
- Physical Address: 301 S. 13th Street, Suite 410
- Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
- Mailing Address: P.O. Box 94608
- Lincoln, Nebraska 68509-4608
- Phone: 402-471-2555
- Fax: 402-471-7834
- Email: sos.elect@ne.gov
- Website: https://sos.nebraska.gov
Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission
- Physical Address: Centre Terrace Bldg, 1225 L St, Suite 400
- Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
- Mailing Address: P.O. Box 95086
- Lincoln, Nebraska 68509
- Phone: 402-471-2522
- Email: nadc@nebraska.gov
- Website: https://nadc.nebraska.gov
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
- 633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200
- Washington, DC 20001
- Phone: 301-563-3919
- Toll free: 1-866-747-1471
- Email: clearinghouse@eac.gov
- Website: https://www.eac.gov
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
- 1050 First Street, NE
- Washington, DC 20463
- Telephone: (202)-694-1100
- Toll-free: 1-800-424-9530
- Email: info@fec.gov
- Website: http://www.fec.gov/
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nebraska campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Campaign finance regulation
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Nebraska
- Nebraska
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Campaign Finance Enforcement," accessed May 28, 2025
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Limits on Contributions to Candidates 2023-2024 Election Cycle," accessed May 8, 2025
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "2024 Candidate Brochure," accessed July 24, 2025
- ↑ Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act, "Section 49-1445," accessed December 9, 2013
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, "2014 Candidate Brochure," accessed December 9, 2013
- ↑ Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act, "Section 49-1446," accessed December 9, 2013
- ↑ Nebraska Political Accountability and Disclosure Act, "Section 49-1455," accessed January 2, 2014
- ↑ Bills are organized by most recent action. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
