Nebraska Sports Betting Vote Overcomes Fraud Allegations
David Genge Published 24/08/2026
Despite facing fraud accusations, proponents of a Nebraska petition seeking a sports betting vote overcame the allegations. The measure will be on the November 3, 2026, midterm election ballot. The Nebraska Secretary of State's office announced that the two online sports wagering petitions backed by Tax Relief Nebraska officially surpassed the required valid signature counts and geographic distribution minimums.
An investigation clears Nebraska sports betting petition of fraud allegations
Two petitions to legalize sports betting in Nebraska have met the signature thresholds required to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. The Nebraska Secretary of State's office made this announcement on Friday.
Both the Online Sports Wagering Authorization Constitutional Amendment and the Online Sports Wagering Regulation Initiative collected enough valid signatures to appear on the 2026 general election ballot. A check to verify signatures, following allegations of fraud made by Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen, confirmed that there were more than enough provably legitimate signatures for both measures to go forward to the ballot.
The constitutional amendment petition collected the necessary 134,473 signatures, the Secretary of State's Office confirmed. To qualify for the ballot, constitutional amendment petitions must collect valid signatures from at least 10% of registered voters statewide. There's also a requirement to collect signatures from at least 5% of registered voters in 38 counties. The petition ultimately met that threshold in 64 counties.
The Online Sports Wagering Regulation Initiative collected at least 96,918 valid signatures, reaching the 5% threshold in 55 counties. Statutory initiative petitions are required to collect valid signatures from a minimum of 7% of registered voters statewide. The petition must meet the 5% requirement in at least 38 counties.
After each petition reached 100% of the required threshold, the Elections Division told county election offices to stop verifying additional signatures, as is allowed under state law.
Tax Relief Nebraska, the organization in charge of collecting the signatures, was never concerned that their petitions would hold up to scrutiny.
“If any circulator was found to have committed fraud, they should be identified and prosecuted,” Tax Relief Nebraska sponsor Jordan McGrain told the Lincoln Journal Star. “Our goal is to collect signatures to get on the ballot, so fraud doesn’t help anybody.”
Public Hearings are the next step in the process
There's one final hurdle that these two measures must clear to ensure a place on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The Secretary of State's Office will hold public hearings on the two ballot measures in each of Nebraska's three congressional districts. The office will also produce an informational brochure about the measures. Dates and locations for these hearings will be revealed later.
The Secretary of State's Office must certify the 2026 general election ballot by September 11. All petition results will be announced by then.
The proposed Nebraska online sports betting would provide property tax relief
Nebraska currently offers legal and regulated sports betting. However, it is limited to retail sports betting. All wagers must be placed in person at one of the state's five racetrack casinos.
If online sports betting is legalized in the state, 70% of the funds would be designated to provide property tax relief. That's the same percentage currently taken from casino taxes.
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