Nebraska AG Announces Felony Charge Related to Fraudulent Signature Investigation of Cannabis Petitions

Editor's note: After this article was publish, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen certified both medical cannabis legalization petitions for the Nov. 5, 2024, election. This article was updated to include a quote from his office.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers held a joint press conference with Hall County Attorney Martin Klein on Sept. 13 to announce a Class IV felony charge related to an investigation of fraudulent signatures for two cannabis legalization petitions.

This news comes on the same day that Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen plans to certify the petitions, which aim to legalize medical cannabis in November’s election. Evnen announced Aug. 30 that the committee behind the legalization campaign, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM), collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot but that he wouldn’t certify the petitions until after local election officials finalized their verification processes.

Specifically in Hall County, the fourth-most populous county in the state with roughly 63,000 people, Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet flagged 17 pages of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation petition as having potentially fraudulent signatures, according to Hilgers’ office. Overstreet also flagged 21 pages for the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Patient Protection petition.

The first petition intends to adopt state law to establish a framework for a regulated medical cannabis marketplace with licensed businesses, while the latter petition aims to protect patients from criminal charges and prosecution for possession of up to 5 ounces of medical cannabis.

All of the signatures in question from the Hall County investigation trace back to one petition circulator, Michael Egbert of Grand Island, according to Hilgers’ office.

“Nebraskans expect secure elections. As we head into election season, Nebraskans should be confident that the election and law enforcement officials will work together to identify and investigate fraudulent activity,” Hilgers said Friday.

State authorities charged Egbert with false swearing to a circulator’s affidavit on a petition under Nebraska law, citing the offense as a Class IV felony, according to Hilgers’ office. Those convicted of a Class IV felony face a minimum of probation to a maximum of two years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

“Petition circulators and voters alike should know and understand that this office—and all election offices across Nebraska—take elections and signature verification very seriously,” Overstreet said in a public statement. “We go through each petition line by line by line, signature by signature—just like we do for signatures on early voting ballot envelopes.”

UPDATE: The investigation uncovered "serious" questions about the signature gathering process for the NMM petitions, Evnen said in a press release later on Sept. 13, when he announced his office officially certified both petitions after county election officials counted more than 89,850 signatures for each ballot.

“We have been advised that a signature collector is being charged with felony fraud,” Evnen said. “Signatures that cannot be verified by county election workers are not included in the overall signature count. I am certifying the petitions because, at this point, they appear to have met the threshold signature requirements. That could change in light of the attorney general’s investigation. Both cannabis petitions will appear on the ballot, but a court could order later that the initiatives be thrown out.”

NMM, sponsored by Campaign Manager Crista Eggers, state Sen. Anna Wishart and former state Sen. Adam Morfeld, released a statement Sept. 13 expressing gratitude to Hilgers’ and Hall County officials for investing any petition irregularities and working to protect the integrity of the initiative process.

The statement also reiterated that NMM “provides extensive training to all petition circulators,” who are “held to an extremely high standard and are required to strictly follow all legal requirements for collecting signatures. Any circulators caught violating the law should be held accountable for their actions.”

The committee was still waiting for Evnen's certification announcement when it released its statement, but Eggers indicated that she expected the state secretary to certify the petitions for the ballot despite the attorney general's announcement in Hall County.

“Today marks a momentous day for the patients of Nebraska, who are one step closer to safe and regulated medical cannabis access,” Eggers said in the release. “We are grateful for all of the Nebraskans who have not only supported us but been the heart and soul of this fight. We look forward to November when the people’s voice on this issue will finally be heard.”

Eggers’ remarks come one day after former state Sen. John Kuehn filed a lawsuit challenging the petitions’ signatures in the Lancaster County District Court.

The lawsuit claims certain signatures that were validated for the petitions should not have been validated for myriad reasons, including fraudulent collection and replicated signatures.