AGO 98024.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1998. AGO 98024. DATE: April 9, 1998SUBJECT: Application of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-612(1) (Supp. 1997) and Change of Political Party Affiliation Timeframes to the Situation Where a Registered Voter Moves Out of a County and Wishes to File for Office as a Candidate of a Different Political Party in a New CountyREQUESTED BY: Scott Moore, Nebraska Secretary of StateWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Dale A. Comer, Assistant Attorney General Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-702 (Cum. Supp. 1996) allows a political party in Nebraska to adopt rules which require that an individual whose name is placed on that party's partisan primary election ballot must be affiliated with that party. When such a party rule exists, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-610 (Cum. Supp. 1996) provides further that no person shall be allowed to file a candidate filing form as a partisan candidate for public office or to have his or her name placed on the primary election ballot of that political party unless that person is a registered voter of the political party in question. You have now requested an opinion from this office with respect to the application of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 32-612(1) (Supp. 1997) in the context of the statutes cited above. Section 32- 612(1) provides: A change of political party affiliation by a registered voter so as to affiliate with the political party named in the candidate filing form after the first Friday in December prior to the statewide primary election shall not be effective to meet the requirements of section 32- 610 or 32-611, except that any person may change his or her political party affiliation after the first Friday in December prior to the statewide primary election to become a candidate of a new political party which has successfully completed the petition process required by section 32-176. You state that several questions have arisen concerning the application of § 32-612(1) to individuals who move from one county to another and who then decide to run for office in the new county. Under those circumstances, you note that § 32-612(1) does not appear to apply to individuals who were not previously registered to vote in their former county of residence. You then ask: If however, an individual, who had been previously registered, moves into another county, does this section [§ 32-612(1)] apply? Or does...