OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has vacated a 2014 ruling by a federal judge that could have made it easier for petition-drive organizers to place statewide initiatives on the Nebraska ballot.

In a split decision, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Thursday that Kent Bernbeck did not have standing to challenge a state constitutional requirement that forces petition circulators to travel outside of large urban areas for signatures.

To qualify for the ballot, petition circulators must visit at least 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties and collect signatures from at least 5 percent of the registered voters in each.

Bernbeck had argued that the requirement effectively makes rural votes more valuable than urban votes. Nearly half of the state’s population lives in five eastern Nebraska counties.