Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate removed from November ballot, Nebraska secretary of state says

OMAHA, Neb. —

The Nebraska Secretary of State said the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate will not appear on the ballot in November.

Cindy Burbank submitted the form to decline her nomination by the statutory deadline to Bob Evnen’s office last week.

Previous coverage: Cindy Burbank, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, asks to be removed from ballot

In a statement, Evnen said the Secretary of State’s office consulted with the Nebraska Attorney General’s office before making a ruling.

“Under Nebraska law, when a candidate has declined a nomination by the deadline, the Secretary of State has no discretion to refuse it. For that reason, Cindy Burbank’s name will not appear on the November ballot as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate,” Evnen said in a statement.

Evnen added that he has “advised the Democratic Party of the requirements for substituting another candidate.”

Burbank defeated William Forbes in May’s primary to earn the Democratic nomination. The other candidates in the race for U.S. Senate include Republican incumbent Pete Ricketts, Legalize Marijuana Now candidate Mike Marvin, and independent candidate Dan Osborn.

In March, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that Burbank could appear on May’s primary ballot, overruling Evnen, who had refused to certify Burbank.

In his filing, Evnen said Burbank “has no intention of holding the office that she purportedly seeks,” court documents state.

In April, Burbank told KETV, if Osborn is polling significantly higher, she would consider dropping out to unify the votes.

“I do not take it lightly, nor will I steal anybody else’s votes and throw them away by staying in the race,” Burbank said.

On Tuesday, Evnen called Burbank’s actions a “cynical manipulation of the ballot process.”

“Earlier this year, when Burbank first filed to run under a separate Nebraska law, the Nebraska Republican Party filed an objection. They were right, and I acted to stop this abuse then. The Supreme Court reversed my decision because the objection was filed too late. Now Burbank has done exactly what I predicted in May. She has declined the nomination,” Evnen said in a statement.

KETV has not reached out to Burbank but has not received a response at this time.

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