Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved a ban on race- and gender-based affirmative action Tuesday, signaling the likely demise of many public hiring, admissions and scholarship programs that give a leg up to under-represented groups.

The wide margin of victory for the ban, known as Initiative 424, indicates the prospect of ending racial and gender preferences “struck a chord” with Nebraskans, said Ward Connerly, head of the American Civil Rights Institute. That’s the California-based group that has spearheaded similar bans in three other states.

“It is consistent with what most people in this state believe: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” Connerly said from the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lincoln.

Americans’ election of Sen. Barack Obama as the first black president is a “fitting tribute” to the fact the nation is moving toward color blindness, said Connerly, who is black.

Initiative 424 amends the Nebraska Constitution to prohibit racial and gender preferences in public hiring and admissions decisions.

Supporters have said the ban is necessary to ensure equality for all Nebraskans. Opponents, including many leaders at the University of Nebraska, say it could endanger programs and scholarships targeted toward under-represented groups such as black students at the university or men in nursing.

Opponents also have long maintained that the initiative’s language — which doesn’t explicitly include the words affirmative action — was misleading to voters, a charge supporters dismiss.

“The language of this is incredibly difficult to be against,” said David Kramer, campaign manager for Nebraskans United, the group fighting the ban.

Of Tuesday’s results, Kramer said: “We’re disappointed but not surprised.”

Two members of Nebraskans United have filed a lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court challenging the validity of tens of thousands of petition signatures collected to help get the affirmative-action ban on the ballot.

If the lawsuit is successful, it could invalidate Tuesday’s results.

“We remain hopeful the litigation may be decided shortly and come our way,” Kramer said.

Doug Tietz, executive director of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, which sponsored the affirmative-action ban, said he wasn’t concerned about the lawsuit.

Tietz has said petition circulators were thoroughly trained and that if petition fraud did occur it was isolated.

Bans on race- and gender-based affirmative action already have passed in California, Washington and Michigan, and a similar measure was before Colorado voters Tuesday.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.