The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging Nebraska's requirements for voter-led initiatives and referendums to qualify for a statewide ballot.

Currently, campaigns must collect signatures from at least 5% of voters in 38 of the state's 93 counties to qualify.

Daniel Gutman - a contract attorney for the ACLU of Nebraska - is leading the litigation. He said the requirement is unconstitutional because it dilutes the vote.

"Nebraska is a geographically diverse state," said Gutman. "And when you require 5% of the registered voters from 38 arbitrary counties, what you're doing is you're placing value and power on some people's vote over others."

Gutman noted that campaigns must collect 17,000 signatures in highly populated Douglas County, but the same campaign needs to collect just 17 signatures in Arthur County, with an estimated 337 registered voters.

Courts have struck down similar requirements in other states, who argued that geographical requirements were necessary to ensure that rural voters were not overpowered by urban populations.

Crista Eggers is a plaintiff in the case and leads a ballot campaign for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana.

Her doctor told her that in order for her seven-year-old son to receive effective treatment for epilepsy, she would have to leave the state, or convince lawmakers to legalize medical cannabis. She said after an eight year struggle, she believes taking the issue to voters is the only way to change the law.

"But this is something that we're also fighting," said Eggers, "so that those who are fighting just as important issues in the future - that this is something that we take a look at - at whether this process is hindering and diluting the voice and the vote of Nebraska voters."

Gutman said there are other ways to ensure that rural and urban areas get an equal say on ballot measures. For example, other states require an equal number of qualified voter signatures from each of the state's equally populated federal Congressional districts.

"States do want input from people around the state in order to put an initiative or referendum on the ballot," said Gutman. "And that's not what we're challenging, actually; we don't necessarily disagree with that."

A Republican-sponsored bill in the Arkansas Legislature would make it illegal to circulate petitions at or near polling places during elections.

House Bill 1025 would amend the state law about circulating petitions to limit signature-gathering within 100 feet of the primary entrance to a polling place. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, and Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Little Rock.

Bonnie Miller, president of the League of Women Voters of Arkansas, said the bill appears to be a remedy in search of a problem. She said there haven't been any issues around circulating petitions as people are voting.

"This is his next attempt to try to make the people's constitutional right to direct democracy in Arkansas much more difficult," she said. "We, the League of Women Voters, we believe that it is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, of our right to free speech, and to petition."

Miller said the 100-foot limit that currently exists is for candidates, to prohibit what's known as electioneering. She said voters circulating a petition are not the same thing. When Arkansans vote in a general election, she said, any issue would have already gone through a rigorous process to get onto the ballot - so there would be no reason to circulate petitions or gather signatures at a voting location. She contended that this may be another way to intimidate groups or chip away at the democratic process.

"It's not really something that happens already, because the timing just doesn't make sense with elections, and direct democracy, the whole process," she said. "I don't understand the reasoning behind this bill, except for just continue to attack it, in whatever way that they can."

It's unknown whether HB 1025 has bipartisan support, as it is newly introduced.

Support for this reporting was provided by Carnegie Corp. of New York.

According to AmeriCorps' latest research, Utah was the state with the highest number of residents volunteering with nonprofits in their communities from September 2020 through 2021.

Michael Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps, said those in the Beehive State and across the country had to find innovative ways to give back to their communities during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the data, about 40% of Utahns regularly volunteered with nonprofit organizations, which classifies as formal volunteering. Smith pointed out the number jumped to 61% when looking at how people from Utah helped in informal ways, such as doing favors for neighbors.

"To put that in context, we got 23% for formal and 51% for informal," Smith reported. "Those rates were pretty high, and it shows why we need to do this research. We need to study what was happening. What was the secret sauce?"

The research is conducted every two years in a joint effort between AmeriCorps and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Smith emphasized the research showed cause for concern and celebration. For the first time since the agencies started tracking the data in 2002, there was a 7% dip in the number of Americans engaging in formal volunteering. He added informal help remained strong and steady.

Smith admitted he was a bit nervous in receiving the numbers from the latest research, since he knew the COVID-19 pandemic would likely mean many were not able to volunteer as in previous years. He explained AmeriCorps was not shocked to see a dip in formal volunteering, but it was greater than expected.

At the same time, he added he was pleased to see when the going got tough, Americans really showed up for one another.

"We saw neighbors creating learning pods so that children of first responders could have a place to go and learn in a safe place," Smith recounted. "We saw folks saying 'I'm going to the grocery store. Anyone who can't get out to the grocery store in my apartment building, I'll go and get that done.' "

Smith hopes formal volunteering will rise again, but stressed AmeriCorps will be looking at ways to remove barriers to get even more Americans volunteering and civically engaged. He noted the need for volunteers within nonprofits is at an all-time high, which can also become a pipeline for employees in the social sector.

Some Nevada Democrats said the state's new Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo missed the mark on addressing key issues and putting forth solutions during his State of the State speech.

Lombardo will have to work with a Democratic-controlled Assembly, which could lead to partisan disagreements in the upcoming session.

Asw. Selena Torres, D-Las Vegas, a member of the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus, said in her eyes, Lombardo failed to address crucial issues for the state, including health care, housing, public safety and clean energy. Torres noted Lombardo did not speak on what he plans to do to help Latino families in Nevada, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is the second-largest demographic in the state.

"He focused a lot on what he is going to do for wealthy corporations and wealthy families in the State of Nevada," Torres pointed out. "But I think we're missing key elements of what he is planning to do for the working-class families in our community."

Lombardo did lay out plans to put away a hefty amount of state dollars in savings, cut gas and payroll taxes and increase public school spending, as well as expand the controversial school-choice program, something for which he received praise from fellow Republicans.

Torres pointed out the Latino Caucus priorities this session will surround health care, education, language access and housing.

She argued Lombardo failed to touch on a number of health care-related issues she sees as paramount, such as bringing more health care providers to the state. She also said abortion is top of mind for Nevadans and voters across the country.

"He had no plan for protecting women's health or reproductive rights, and obviously this was a critical issue for voters at the ballot box this election cycle. So, it really was disheartening to see that, you know, these issues were not focused on."

Torres added she and other members of the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus are ready and willing to work with those across the aisle on a number of issues to help Nevadans.