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Group: Affirmative action ban will be on ballot

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By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Jul 03, 2008 - 06:56:34 pm CDT

Supporters of a proposed “equal rights” petition believe they have collected more than enough signatures to get the proposal on the November ballot.

Campaign leaders handed in 27 boxes of petitions bearing about 167,000 signatures, to the Secretary of State’s office Thursday afternoon,  

That’s 55,000 more than they need to get the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot, and the second highest number of signatures collected on petitions in the past eight years, based on state records.

Story Photo
Marc Schniederjans (left), treasurer for the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, and Doug Tietz, executive director for the Initiative, presented petitions they said are signed by 167,000 voters, during a press conference in the Capitol rotunda Wednesday. (William Lauer)

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State fair petition

Organizers of the state fair petition are optimistic they will be able to collect enough voter signatures to get that issue on the November ballot.

“We are getting lots and lots of signatures, so hitting the 60,000 mark is feasible,” said Roger Yant, with FairVoteNebraska.com, about the all-volunteer petition campaign.

Yant’s group is conducting a referendum petition drive, asking voters to overturn the state law that moves the Nebraska State Fair from Lincoln to Grand Island.

A referendum petition requires half the number of signatures needed to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot.

The deadline also is different. The state fair petition signatures must go to the Secretary of State’s office by July 16.

“Tens of thousands of Nebraskans want the opportunity to vote on the issues of preferences and discrimination,” said Marc Schniederjans, treasurer of the petition campaign, Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative.   

Campaign leaders said they also have collected signatures from  at least 5 percent of the voters in all 93 counties, far more than the 38 counties required under state law.

“The people of Nebraska have spoken loud and clear.  The citizens demand the opportunity to vote  on the use of race and gender preferences and discrimination  in state hiring, state contracting and state education,” he said.    

But opponents group will challenge the methods of circulators and validity of the signatures as election staff across the state check to make sure those who signed are registered voters.  

“Submitted signatures is not the same thing as valid signatures, said David Kramer, representing Nebraskans United. 

The opposing group says it has videos and audio recordings of petition circulators violating state law as they collect signatures, according to Kramer.   

“We certainly intend to provide the evidence that we've gathered about individual circulators and individual signatures to county clerks, election commissioners and the Secretary of State  so they can consider it in their validation process,” said Kramer.

Secretary of State John Gale will return petitions  to the counties in which they were collected for the validation process, which can take as long as 40 days.  

The proposed constitutional amendment would prohibit  granting any preferential treatment  based race, sex, race, ethnicity or  national origin in public education, employment or public contracting.

Schniederjans called preferential treatment “morally abhorrent.”

“It is not surprising that a wide majority of Nebraskans voters support ending these programs.”

Supporters point to University of Nebraska programs that give special hiring consideration to minorities or women.

Opponents point out that the ban would  apply to scholarships and programs that encourage men to go into  nursing programs, women into engineering programs.

Supporters say scholarships reserved for African Americans would be prohibited. Opponents note the amendment would also prohibit a University of Nebraska scholarship for Americans of German descent.   

Both groups have raised more than $400,000 during the signature-gathering phase of the petition drive.

Nebraskans United has spent more than $233,000.

The Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative spent about $461,000, on paid petition circulators and advertising, based on reports to the state at the end of June.  

Most of the money raised by supporters came from the California-based American Civil Rights Initiative, a national effort to ban racial and gender preference in hiring and admissions decisions.

Opponents got large donations of $50,000 each from wealthy Nebraskans Warren Buffett, Richard Holland and Dianne Lozier, all from Omaha.  

The University of Nebraska Foundation and the Nebraska State Education Association also each donated $25,000 to Nebraskans United.  

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.


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mike wrote on July 3, 2008 2:15 pm:
" Finally - we can end discrimination of all kinds. "

 Outside the Box wrote on July 3, 2008 2:15 pm:
" I appreciate the picture with this article. A garbage petition being signed in front of a dumpster.

Very appropriate. "

 JB wrote on July 3, 2008 2:24 pm:
" Bought and paid for by right-wingers from California. Thought Nebraskan would be a smart enough to understand what they are signing. "

 Finally wrote on July 3, 2008 2:47 pm:
" As a white male, who has been a victim of affirmative action, I say this is coming none too soon. I was passed up on a position for a female who didn't even meet all of the qualifications for the position. I paid 25,000 dollars to go to grad school for such position, only to have it taken away from me because of affirmative action. Of course, the kicker is, as a white male, I did not have the scholarship money available to me because I didn't fall into the female or minority category.

Who sticks up for me and other men like me? No one...because they be deemed a racist. Meanwhile, racists like Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton preach and preach the good word. "

 Hadrian wrote on July 3, 2008 3:06 pm:
" This issue will never be behind us if we don't end the discrimination. Everyone should be treated equally. Preferential treatment does not do that. "

 Eddie wrote on July 3, 2008 3:23 pm:
" Finally, if you were passed up for a job for an unqualified female, then you have action for a lawsuit. Chances are though, in most cases like this, it actually turns out that complainant's case turns out to be hurt feelings, or the boss uses it as an excuse for not hiring you. Expect to see much more of this if voters approve this move as no one will have to hire the best applicant. "

 Eddie wrote on July 3, 2008 3:42 pm:
" "Expect to see much more of this if voters approve this move as no one will have to hire the best applicant." That is the problem Eddie, the best candidate doesn't always get hired. No discrimination should apply all across the board. "

 i want to vote wrote on July 3, 2008 3:54 pm:
" why are the opponents trying to take away my opportunity to vote on this. "

 Grundle wrote on July 3, 2008 3:58 pm:
" Right-wingers in California? I didn't know such people existed. I love the irony that California, the liberal capital of the U.S., witnessed its voters approve similar legislation. I'd be willing to wager that most Nebraskan liberals would agree that California, with their left-leaning political environment, is next to utopia...and would like things in Nebraska to be like they are in California, for example, allowing gay marriage, freely welcoming illegal immigrants, etc. But no, no affirmative action ban...all of the sudden what California does is wrong. "

 MarkyMark wrote on July 3, 2008 4:09 pm:
" A giant step backwards to ending discrimination. "

 Lincolnite wrote on July 3, 2008 4:50 pm:
" I'm just happy to see these issues on the ballot, where they belong. Perhaps you detractors can take a happy holiday trip to http://www.usconstitution.net, where it plainly says, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence." Later in the page: Republic - "a government in which supreme power is held by the citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives governing according to law"

Happy Fourth of July!! God Bless America. "

 Petitioner wrote on July 3, 2008 4:56 pm:
" Our friends in Arizona filed 330,000 signatures with their Secretary of State today. Looks like the Civil Rights Initiative will be on the ballot there too.

It's been a bad day for preferences all over. "

 Happy th wrote on July 3, 2008 5:09 pm:
" From someone who reads the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution every 4th of July to reaffirm my belief in this country (and I have what many call liberal views), this news is great. To quote a man I rarely agree with, Justice Thomas in the following passage stated some of the most accurate truths about affirmative action:
These programs not only raise grave constitutional questions, they also undermine the moral basis of the equal protection principle. Purchased at the price of immeasurable human suffering, the equal protection principle reflects our Nation's understanding that such classifications ultimately have a destructive impact on the individual and our society. Unquestionably, invidious racial discrimination is an engine of oppression. It is also true that remedial racial preferences may reflect a desire to foster equality in society. But there can be no doubt that racial paternalism and its unintended consequences can be as poisonous and pernicious as any other form of discrimination. So-called “benign” discrimination teaches many that because of chronic and apparently immutable handicaps, minorities cannot compete with them without their patronizing indulgence. Inevitably, such programs engender attitudes of superiority or, alternatively, provoke resentment among those who believe that they have been wronged by the government's use of race. These programs stamp minorities with a badge of inferiority and may cause them to develop dependencies or to adopt an attitude that they are “entitled” to preferences. "

 hh wrote on July 3, 2008 5:22 pm:
" from the comments above I sense that since the signature gatherers are either from somewhere besides Nebraska or are paid by other than Nebraskans that the ONLY VOTERS will also be out of state people. Come people I want to vote and I do not want some do gooder to deny me that right! "

 DOC wrote on July 4, 2008 6:53 am:
" Okay Class, why is anyone fearful of allowing the people to vote? Do I know how you'll vote? Of course not, but I trust you a lot more than I trust unelected judges that can with the stroke of a pen overturn a law that was enacted by the people. Yes, I trust you. Trust you to do the right thing for your family and for the country because ultimately that will be the same thing. Happy 4th of July. Remember the troops that are out there defending your right to maintain the liberties that we have. "

 Smile wrote on July 4, 2008 10:54 am:
" There are so many tales told here of "unqualified" women or minorities being hired over a highly-qualified white male. As a female in male-dominated profession, I know EXACTLY how you feel. I've been turned down for jobs that seemingly went to white males who had less experience and fewer qualifications. It stings, doesn't it? It's also unfair when a male and a female are hired at the same time for the same job and the male gets a better salary. I've seen that, too. "

 JB wrote on July 4, 2008 3:28 pm:
" Some people were discriminated against for over two hundred years and now those who discriminated feel that a few decades of affirmative action have made up for the "past" already and think all are equal. "

 CC wrote on July 4, 2008 4:26 pm:
" Affirmative action is like a crutch, minorities needed it to be able to walk after an injury. The biggest problem is you cannot fully heal until you get rid of the crutch, It is time for affirmative action to be discontinued so minorities will not continue to reach for the handouts, but rather learn to walk on their own. They will find they can go so much further than they ever thought they could with affirmative action. "

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