OMAHA — Petition circulators turning in signatures Thursday to get on Nebraska’s general election ballot this fall will need signatures from 5% of registered voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily lifted a lower court’s injunction that briefly prohibited the State of Nebraska from enforcing its 38-county signature requirement.

Attorney General Doug Peterson's office said that organizers of this year's highest-profile petition drives — for medical marijuana, a higher minimum wage and voter ID — have to make sure their signatures meet the reinstated requirement.

Previously, U.S. District Judge John Gerrard issued an injunction siding with a lawsuit by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which put into question the constitutionality of assigning different values to voter signatures from different parts of the state.

The appeals court's decision means the original requirement stays in place while the lawsuit proceeds. It is still possible the court rules against the requirement and qualifies a petition that fails to meet the geographic requirement.

Crista Eggers, one of the medical marijuana petition drive leaders, has argued the state's geographic signature requirement values people in the state's urban and suburban counties less than Nebraskans who live in rural counties.

“We are continuing to pull signatures in from all across the state,” Eggers said, declining to share details about where and about whether the petition drive might come up short. “It is so fluid right now.”

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