Home  >  Nebraska  >  Video Special: Investigation raises more questions for election chief

Video Special: Investigation raises more questions for election chief

By   /   January 30, 2013  /   24 Comments

Joe Jordan | Nebraska Watchdog

An investigation by Nebraska Watchdog is raising more questions about fair elections in Omaha.

The questions coincide with two state hearings which potentially find Douglas County Election Commissioner Dave Phipps in the bulls-eye.

Thursday the Legislature’s Government Committee examines a bill which gives lawmakers the final say in the governor’s appointment of election commissioners and a second bill which strips the governor of his appointment power.

For the past year Phipps, a Republican appointed by Republican Gov. Dave Heineman, has been accused of scheming to suppress the city’s Democratic vote.

Nebraska Watchdog’s latest investigation presses Phipps about his handling of two predominately Republican precincts.


YouTube

 

 

Please, feel free to "steal our stuff"! Just remember to credit Watchdog.org. Find out more

Joe Jordan

  • Bam

    “Scheming to suppress”? No, that doesn’t sound biased. And yeah, he’s a Republican – the law says the gov appoints the election head and the other party gets to pick the deputy. It’s been that way for a hundred years. Joe – did Phipps take the last doughnut from you or something?

  • http://www.facebook.com/pat.boyle.50 Pat Boyle

    I think Dave got caught up in the RNC’s plan to keep voter turn-out low.

  • Jazzee

    so where was the deputy from the other party Joe???? was he/she sleeping thru all this????

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-H-Gill/842093723 William H Gill

    Not worth watching…..
    If you wanted to see Voter Fraud then look in PA it was rampent some, Some of the larger citys had 150% turn out (100,000 voters) and ZERO votes for Romney (a impossiblity).

  • ProgressiveOasis

    Wow! Things must be really slow in the local “investigative reporting” world if this is the best you can do. Looks like Mr. Jordan showing his bias again with this “hard hitting” special report. Where I live west of Boys Town, there are at least 4 polling places within a mile or two of each other…shocking!!! Just because there isn’t a polling place on every corner in North O doesn’t mean those mean old Republicans are suppressing the “black vote”. Look no further than Mayor Suttle to see just how far a democrat candidate will go to get “voters” to the polls…downtown homeless shelter to west O election office. Another piece of crap reporting trying to pass as some kind of news.

  • Bam

    The RNC’s plan worked – Republicans stayed home by the millions.

  • http://www.facebook.com/lautenbaugh Scott Lautenbaugh

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that this story makes absolutely no sense. So what if the two polling places for different precincts are near each other? Maybe one precinct extends two miles one way, and one extends two miles the other– meaning the people at the far end of either precinct would have to travel a good distance to get to their polling places– regardless of whether another precinct’s polling plac e is “right next door”. Polling places are not located in the center of each precinct– and sometimes not even within the precinct itself. They are located where a suitable building is available– ample parking, ADA compliant, etc. That these two polling places for different precincts used to be in the same building really doesn’t matter either– but it does demonstrate that one precinct formerly did not have a polling place within its boundaries, and that is now fixed apparently. Again, this, as a story, makes no sense.

  • Goblin Shark

    Agreed. I’m a North Omaha Democrat, and I’ve been working at the polls since you were the Election Commissioner, and I’ve never been instructed to suppress any vote. In fact I’d say the opposite is true, we’re always taught to allow provisional voting. Additionally, absentee ballot request forms were mailed to every voter, and a ballot box was placed at the Charles B. Washington library branch in North Omaha. I used it myself. Nothing to see here, folks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/john.sciara.94 John Sciara

    Joe, you need to go to North Omaha and check out the King Science Center and Evens Tower. The one precinct has 1144 Democrats to 125 Republicans or a 9 to 1 ratio and the other has 1280 Democrats to 105 Republicans or a 12 to 1 ratio. These two polling places are also 2 blocks apart.
    West Omaha had 51 polling places before the number of locations were reduced, now they have 25 or a 50% reduction. North Omaha had 38 polling places and now they have 23 or a 40% reduction of locations. If you were going to try to suppress votes for Democrats you would reduce the number of locations in North Omaha by a greater number than West Omaha.

  • Jazzee

    excellent point

  • Watching_From_Lincoln

    Prove that, and with a VALID news source reference, not a quotation by Rush or any talking anus on Fox News.

  • Rich

    LOL – The Fox guarding the henhouse says there is nothing to see.
    It matters little that you are a North Omaha Democrat or that You were never told not to suppress a vote. This is not about YOUR integrity, but that of the Big Guy who serves at the pleasure of the Governor.
    It is a little concerning that you are not able to follow the story and see the inconsistency.

  • Rich

    With all due respect, Senator, you are hardly in a position to say what does or does not make sense about polling in Douglas County. Your work was not without its legal challenges, and you were not that loved by the people you served (Actually, you served the governor, and not the people of the county.)
    It is very telling that 1) you want to deny the inconsistency in your successors rationale for closing some precincts in one area and leaving others open in other areas, and 2) and in trying to hijack the story to make it about parking lots and ADA.
    Senator, dispite your attitude toward the Good People in Douglas County, we are smart enough to know what is a story for ourselves, and do not need you to try and edit this into something else.
    The truth is still the truth that there is a very inconsistent manner in handling the need to close polling places in one area versus another, and in the rationale behind it.
    Some of us believe that it is OK for Public Officials to have to answer to the poeple, and for those answers to actually make sense in every situation. I can understand how you would disagree, and not want to explain they whys and the hows of actions you take and endorse. Thankfully, we still live in a democracy despite your efforts to supress that.

  • Rich

    John – I know that the facts are sometimes difficult for you to accept, but the North Omaha precincts WERE closed in a greater number than West Omaha, which is why the Election Commisioner was challenged on this and why he eventually had to reopen several.
    The issue here is how he was inconsistent in the North Omaha area versus Elkhorn if his true intention was the cost saving by closing the polling locations that were close to each other.
    As a person running for public office, you need to know that the public has a right and a responsibility to challenge public officials, and let they explain their actions. We do not have to accept all that is said at face value and move on.
    Do not try to make this into something it is not. It is not an attack on the GOP by mean Democrats, it is people in one area wanting to know why they were treated the way they were. It is not about North versus west, but about the Election commisioners actions in the north versus what he did in the west, AND why he did it.
    This is about accountability, do not try to make it about politics.

  • Rich

    And if you were the only voter in town, than your assessment may matter. But since you are just trying to move this from the election commissioner with OLD SOUR GRAPES about losing the recall election, you are the one having a slow day.

  • Rich

    It is important to take your medicine everyday as prescribed.

    You are aware, no doubt, that this is not about PA, but about Douglas County, NE. You may need to keep focused if you want to be relevant to the discussion.

  • Rich

    I do not think that there are a million repubicans in Douglas County.

  • Rich

    Actually it has not been this way for hundreds of years, and is only this way is certain parts of the state. It is being challenged in the Unicameral, which is why this story is relevant. You may try keeping up to date on the issues, and not repeating the party line.

  • Rich

    She was not sleeping, but these were not her proposals and actions, and she did not try to defend them as cost cutting in North Omaha, and the opposite in Elkhorn.
    BTW – the commisioner would be incompetent without regard to his political affliation. You may not want to make him the poster child for the NE GOP. Although even as incompetent as he is, he may be among the best and the brightest of the NE GOP

  • Bam

    Actually, I said a hundred, not hundreds. The Nebraska legislature established that all counties with more than 100,000 in population must have an election commissioner and Douglas County appointed its first in 1913. Unless you’re using some other way of marking time, 2013 is one hundred years later. You might try living in modern times, instead of as a troglodyte. BAM!

  • Bam

    I do not think Pat was talking about Douglas County when he referred to the Republican National Committee. You should actually try to avoid thinking about issues, Rich – you’re not very good at it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/john.sciara.94 John Sciara

    Rich, it appears that math is something that is difficult for you to comprehend but a 50% reduction is a greater number than a 40% reduction. You just have to accept that as a fact.

    You might be trying to refer to the closing plan before Phipps opened more polling places, but if you actually looked at how many were closed in District 5 and compare it to how many were closed in District 2 you would see that they were comparable District 5 went from 51 polling places to 22 for the May 2012 primary and District 2 went from 38 to 18. Do the math yourself, District 2 had a 52% reduction before the new polling places were opened and District 5 had a 56% reduction. As a person running for public office, If I had difficulty doing math and looking at situations in an unbiased way then you would have every right to challenge my comment.

  • Goblin Shark

    Which is?

  • Goblin Shark

    It’s crystal clear, yet people will still try to make this an issue of voter suppression… It doesn’t matter what the Election Commissioner does at this point, he is damaged goods. I do question his political and managerial acumen, making such a dramatic change during an historic election season with record turnouts and savagely inflamed passions gripping the electorate. However I don’t question his ethics, and I seriously doubt Governor Heineman woke up one day 8 years into his tenure and decided he needed to suppress the North Omaha Democratic vote to ensure Republicans continued to rule Nebraska! Again I say, nothing to see here, folks…