2000 Nebraska Initiative 416

2000 Nebraska Initiative 416

November 7, 2000
Ban Same-Sex Marriage Act
Shall the Nebraska Constitution be amended to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska, and to provide further that the uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska?
Results
Choice
Votes  %
Yes 477,571 70.10%
No 203,667 29.90%
Valid votes 681,238 96.33%
Invalid or blank votes 25,985 3.67%
Total votes 707,223 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 1,085,217 62.77%

Source:

Nebraska Initiative 416, officially titled "Ban Same-Sex Marriage Act", was a 2000 ballot initiative that amended the Nebraska Constitution to make it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions, or domestic partnerships. The referendum was approved on November 7, 2000, by 70% of the voters, and it became Article I-29 of the state's Constitution. The initiative has since been struck down in federal court and same-sex marriage is now legally recognized in the state of Nebraska.

As of April 2025, Article I-29 of the Nebraska Constitution remains an unconstitutional constitutional amendment. It can repealed by either an initiated constitutional amendment, a state constitutional convention, or by a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that requires a three-fifths vote in the Nebraska Legislature and a majority vote in a referendum.