Nebraska Amendment 1, Supreme Court Structure and Term Length Measure (1896)
| Nebraska Amendment 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic State judicial selection and State judiciary structure |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Nebraska Amendment 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Nebraska on November 3, 1896. It was defeated.
A "yes" vote supported amending the state constitution to increase the state Supreme Court to five justices with terms of at least five years as provided for by law. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the state constitution to increase the state Supreme Court to five justices with terms of at least five years as provided for by law. |
Election results
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Nebraska Amendment 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 84,579 | 69.06% | ||
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37,896 | 30.94% | ||
Although this measure gathered more "yes" votes, a majority of the total 217,763 votes in the entire election (108,882 votes) were needed for the measure to be approved.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Amendment 1 was as follows:
| “ | A joint resolution proposing to amend sections two (2), four (4), and five (5), of article six (6) of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska, relating to number of judges of the supreme court and their term of office. Be it resolved and enacted by the Legislature of the State of Nebraska: Section 2. The supreme court shall until otherwise provided by law, consist of five (5) judges, a majority of whom shall be necessary to form a quorum or to pronounce a decision. It shall have original jurisdiction in cases relating to revenue, civil cases in which the state shall be a party, mandamus, quo warranto, habeas corpus, and such appellate jurisdiction, as may be provided by law. Section 2. That section four (4) of article six (6) of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska, be amended so as to read as follows: Section 4. The judges of the supreme court shall be elected by the electors of the state at large, and their term of office, except as hereinafter provided, shall be for a period of not less than five (5) years as the legislature may prescribe. Section 3. That section five (5) of article six (6) of the Constitution of the State of Nebraska, be amended to read as follows: Section 5. At the first general election to be held in the year 1896, there shall be elected two judges of the supreme court one of whom shall be elected for a term of two (2) years, one for the term of four (4) years, and at each general election thereafter, there shall be elected one judge of the supreme court for the term of five (5) years, unless otherwise provided by law; Provided, That the judges of the supreme court whose terms have not expired at the time of holding the general election of 1896, shall continue to hold their office for the remainder of the term for which they were respectively commissioned. Approved March 29, A. D., 1895. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
A 60% supermajority vote is required during one legislative session for the Nebraska State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 30 votes in the unicameral legislature, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. A simple majority vote of all voters in the election was required to approve the amendment.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Nebraska Lincoln (capital) |
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