May 15, 2025 • 20 mins
Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse breaks down the resuls from Omaha's race for mayor and the city council races that were settled on Tuesday.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Who do you call to get some breakdown. It's the
guy who knows things that none of the rest of
us even know where to look for this information. So
I bring him in so he can tell us the information.
And his name is Brian Cruz. He is the election
commissioner here in Douglas County. Brian, as always, big things
to you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
How was it?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It was everything okay? On election night, everything went smooth.
From an administrative standpoint, I suppose the outcome is determined
by each individual voter in the city of Omaha.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, well, I guess that's a very good point. Had
a lot of I'm sure you know you were ready
to just kind of take a deep breath and not
think too much about things yesterday. Well, that was the
opposite for us. We were talking a lot about things yesterday,
many people with different opinions about things. The first question,
and I texted you for a rough estimate, what was
(00:53):
the voter turnout for the election?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Sure, we're going to be right about thirty two percent.
That's what I had predicted. That's we were four years ago.
Eight years ago we were thirty five percent. So you know,
we'd certainly like to see that a lot more than that.
But it's it's in line, it's what we've seen, not inconsistent.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So the next question was, and we did the math here.
Mayor jing Stouth took on R J Neary in twenty
twenty one, defeated him soundly with roughly thirty two percent
of the turnout. She had roughly sixty four to sixty
five percent of the vote. Four years later, with no
major scandal, with no major lightning rod topic that really
(01:38):
was burning Omaha to the ground. Four years later, against
a different Democrat, she gets only forty four percent with
roughly the same amount of people voting in Omaha, and
a lot of people said, how can that be? The
first thing I'm thinking of is were there other districts
that had bigger turnout than four years ago? So from
(02:00):
what you've noticed, is there any kind of start contrast
from some of the numbers in different districts versus other
districts in this particular election that you think could explain
how the mayor would have lost twenty percent of the
vote with roughly the same amount of people voting.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
You know, I think there was a couple factors in
that one, I would say, yes, I think we saw
a little heavier turnout than historically in one in three,
which for reference would be Pete Vesterson and any Bagley's
areas kind of you know, going downtown, Midtown, Uno Dundee
(02:37):
kind of up that way. You know. Out west, we
saw where Brinker and don Roe were unopposed. You know,
turnout was still in that thirty percent range.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
So there weren't people that just weren't showing up because
there wasn't a competitive council race.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
That's right now. If you analyze the numbers at the end,
I think you are going to find out there were
folks out west that definitely voted for their city council people,
even those who were not opposed but chose not to
vote for mayorst author And I don't know why that is.
I'll leave that to the political pundits and the you know,
(03:19):
the politicians, I guess to determine that. I'm just simply
here to count the votes, and I'm the numbers got well.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Governor Pillen also said it was West Omaha Republicans that
didn't get out the vote and that was what potentially costs.
So obviously he has information but I think that there's
a big question as to, you know, just how an incumbent,
you know, mayoral candidate when I think five four or
five of the council seats are going to be the
(03:48):
exact same. There wasn't like an overhaul of change with
the seven seats, but people there were a lot of
people saying, well, we just were ready for a change.
It didn't necessarily that doesn't really try what the results
were of the city council races.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Right, yeah, I think that's fair.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I think one important thing to remember is you pointed
out our je nary four years ago. I think one
very important thing to remember is John Ewing's been a
public servant for many, many years, so he had much
higher name id. You know, he's been the treasurer and
he was a police officer, things of that nature. And
(04:25):
so I think that's a factor as well, because if
you go back eight years when Heath Mellow ran, he
had been a state senator and it was a little
closer than so you know, that name I d definitely
does play into it.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
We're speaking with Brian Cruse. He's the election commissioner here
in Douglas County. Real quick Matt Case. I think we've
had a breakthrough with John Ewing. While we're on the
subject for communication, we have heard back from his campaign.
It sounds like Scott Vorhees is going to have him
on the show here in the next couple of days.
But you have heard back from the campaign here in
the last day or so. Yeah, yes, absolutely, Okay, So
(05:01):
we're working, we're making positive strides, ladies and gentlemen, to
get the new mayor, John Ewing on our radio show
on our radio station. As I mentioned Scott Vore, he
says he's going to have John Ewing on the show.
I believe he said tomorrow. Is I'll double check and
make sure so I don't false advertise there. But you
were talking to him in the hall. That's why I
asked you. But you'd think I would know these things
(05:24):
better than But Brian, I want to continue to kind
of investigate this a little bit. Early voting, yes, which
has been a big thing of the last you know,
few election cycles. In November, I early voted, which it was,
you know, I mean it's crazy. I walked in and
(05:44):
out at my precinct for the mayoral primary and the
race I know it wasn't as many people voting, but
it was just very easy to go in and out.
But so many people like to early vote these days.
So what was kind of for this election, it being
in the springtime, What did you notice in the primary?
What did you notice here in the general election? And
how many people of the of the pot that voted
(06:05):
were voting early?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, absolutely so it was sixty percent, about sixty percent
early voting in the general here. It was a little
more than that, maybe sixty three sixty four percent in
the primary. But there's no question that people all across
the city. It's not concentrated, you know, in a specific area.
Folks all across the city of Omaha, they like the
(06:28):
early voting. It's convenient, it's safe, we have the drop boxes,
it's convenient form. And the number one reason we hear
that people liked early voter is so they can sit
down at their kitchen table and really study the issues.
You know, whether you have a two page ballot or
a one page ballot. We continually hear folks like to
(06:48):
sit down and do their research.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And a lot of people who don't early vote, I guess,
have questions about how that process works. So just for
those who are listening and saying, well, it's like taking
a test home and being able to go on the
internet and you know, be able to you know, get
all the answers. Now, that's not to say that voting
an election is a test, but for people who say
(07:11):
that doesn't sound like it's as secure of a process
as me going to the poll and me having to
show my identification, then get a ballot and then have
to give the ballot back before I leave the building.
For people who are trying to understand how that all
works in how legitimate that can be. As the guy
who understands those rules, can you explain how the early
(07:33):
voting for the people who are either ordering about getting
a mail to them or picking it up and taking
it home, how does that work?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Absolutely so, it's extremely safe and secure. Both both methods
are very very safe and secure. If you like to
early vote, you have to request about We check your
signature on the request. We also have voter ID component now,
so the easiest and simplest way is to write down
your driver's license or state ID. We have agency sharing
(08:00):
we can look on the DMV. Then when you return
your ballot, we also check your signature again, and so
if we don't think signature's match or there's not a
voter ID component that matches, we will reach out, you know,
to those voters. So there's multiple checks here. You also
(08:20):
have to be a registered voter, of course, to do
either of them. If you come into our office, we
physically look at your voter ID, or if you go
to your polling place, you sign in the book and
we also look at your ID. I think it's important
to note that every single ballot is counted in our
secure counting room. Whether you vote at your polling place,
(08:43):
in our lobby or by mail. We do not count
any ballots at the polling places or any place other
than in our secure counting room. Every single ballot's brought
back to our office and counted there. And of course,
our drop boxes, you know, are under twenty four hour
surveillance from cameras to people of different parties pick them up.
(09:05):
It takes two keys to open them. We have fire
suppression systems in them. And you know, again, folks, all
across the city and the county, eighty percent of all
ballots are now returned via a dropbox rather than the
US postal service. It's so convenient. You can do it
twenty four hours a day, you don't need a stamp,
(09:25):
and they're evenly spread, you know, around the city and
the county, and like.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
You said, all under surveillance and very safe and secure. Absolutely, Brian,
can you stick around for a little bit. Sure, Absolutely,
we'll step aside and when we come back more with Brian Cruz,
election commissioner here from Douglas County to talk about the
election results from earlier this week, and plenty more of
where that came from coming up on news Radio eleven
ten kfab Well.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Don't you know Amory Songer is going to take a
quick break, but folks, he'll be back. In fact, I
think he's Now let's listen.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
In Brian Cruz.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He is the election commissioner here in the Douglas County office,
and we're talking about the results from the mayoral election.
And I want to go to the city council real quick,
and is there any council race that you saw any
kind of larger jump than usual, because you mentioned the
(10:24):
number is essentially the same in terms of total voter
turnout about thirty two percent from four years ago to now.
Was there any district that seemed to get a bit
more active than you remember it being in twenty one.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Not necessarily you know, District seven Amy Melton and Tim Carter,
you know, was one folks were watching. Also. I think
Levon a good one in Ben Gray, but they were
really on par with about what we've seen in the past.
You know, Ben Gray had been in there in the past.
(10:57):
The folks did not return him as they did in
the mayor. I think it goes just to show you
we're called the blue dot for a reason. You know,
folks here will we voted for different presidents over the years,
different parties, We voted for different congressmans here over the years.
Oftentimes will vote one way for a president, in a
different way for our congress person. And so I really
(11:20):
do think that the folks in Omaha and Douglas County
are independently minded, and I think they probably do do
their research and they vote for who they want, necessarily
along party lines as we've seen.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Speaking of party lines, is there a way because these
are unattached candidates theoretically, which makes it very I think
very interesting because you kind of have to know the
candidate to go there. You're not just voting on an
R or a D that you're seeing next to their name.
Is there a way for you to track the Republicans,
the Democrats, the independence that are registered, because like you said,
(11:59):
that you have to be registered voter. You can register nonpartisan,
but people do register in political parties for different purposes.
Is there any statistics kind of that maybe turnout overall
was skewed one way or the other.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You know, we don't know yet. We will know in
a couple of weeks. We certified the election Thursday, May
twenty ninth, and so once we go through and give
everybody voter history, we will be able to tell how folks,
which folks voted according to their party. Now that doesn't
mean that's what they voted on the ballot, that's how
(12:35):
many of them, how many of the registered party will
do that. But when you go to your polling place
and you sign in, and you see that little barcode
next to your name. So now what we're doing is
we're going through and scan in every single person that
signed to give them vote history. And it's all part
of our audit process to make sure the number of
folks that votes in is the number of ballots that
(12:57):
went through the tabulators and we match those up to
make sure there's no big discrepancies.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
We are speaking with Brian Cruz from the Douglas County election.
Obviously he's the election commissioner here, so I know that
you guys have kind of dumps, like info dumps that
we watch on election night and it's it's like the next
one's coming at this time, the next one's coming at
this time, there's another one on Friday. So can you
explain that in exactly why it takes a little bit
(13:26):
longer for what you're going to do tomorrow versus election night.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Sure, So we've got about seven three hundred ballots to
count tomorrow. Those were early voting bouts that were turned
in Monday night and Tuesday, so we have to go
through the signature verification process, the election integrity process. We've
got to make sure they're signed and their signatures match.
On all of those, the issue is when you turn
(13:55):
them in leading up to the elections. We do all
of those each and every day, but when we're getting
thousands in a day, we have lots of computers and
lots of people that can do that every day. On
election day, all of our resources are focused on election day,
the computers are all being used by telephone operators and
(14:16):
things of that nature. We're all focused on counting ballots
from election day, so we don't one we don't physically
have the equipment to do the signature verification. But also
when you've got seventy three hundred of these, we don't
get all of these back until you know, after eight o'clock.
(14:36):
I mean, you know that that just it takes time.
That takes eight, nine, ten, twelve hours to do that,
and so you know we're, yeah, we're not going to
stay there all night and do that. I mean, it's
just we don't have this. We don't have the equipment,
we don't have the folks available, and so that's why
we do that on the Wednesday and Thursday following. It's
(14:59):
all part of the integrity process.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So you don't want to rush through all of that
just to get the number out. You want to make
sure that it's as legitimate as somebody who would have
done it two weeks earlier.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Absolutely, you know, when we get those bolts in, we
don't just want to automatically start slicing envelope so and
then pulling them out. That's not what we do. There's
a whole process to make sure these elections are secure
and that folks have their voices heard according to the
way they voted.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So if anybody out there has questions about the legitimacy
of all of that, Brian hopefully is doing everything you
can to ease your mind that there's anything like illegitimate
about the way that things are occurring, especially just here
in Douglas County. But I think this process is very
much the same process in many other counties around Nebraska,
(15:46):
and I'm sure other states with their rules have the
same thing. So, Brian, I just want to kind of
follow this up. This race was not close enough to
where seventy three hundred votes as far as the mayor's concerned.
At least it's not going to affect the result and
Maryaging stuffs or it has already conceded to John Ewing,
So everybody is under the impression of what is going
to be that could change what the final tallies end
(16:07):
up being percentage wise. But were there any city council
races that you think could be a little close enough
to make this challengeable? I suppose for a losing candidate
based on how many uncounted balants that we have until tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Sure you know the answer to that is no, because
the margins as they stand in the city council districts
that they had races is wider than the number of
ballads that we have to count tomorrow. So even if
one hundred percent of the ballads went, you know, to
(16:45):
the candidate that's behind, it wouldn't change it. And obviously
we know that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Right of course, of course, last thing for you, Brian,
before I let you go here, I know that you
guys are staying incredibly busy trying to be as proactive
and transparent as possible with this process. For anyone also
who the transparency of this. It's so easy for us
to talk about this because it was the only stuff
(17:11):
that was on the ballot, right, And I guess we
could talk about that amendment that was also but I
don't think that was on a lot of people's radar.
If this was happening in November of like a midterm election,
if it was happening in November in a presidential election,
some things that people suggested to get that turnout number up.
My theory is that people still wouldn't know enough about
(17:32):
these races. So I have to ask you, from your perspective,
is that a realistic way to increase voter turnout? Would
that actually help our local city elections? If we did
something kind of alongside some bigger races in November of
mid term years.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
You know, there's no question that voter turnout would be
would increase just because of the sheer the sheer number
of people that vote. We get about seventy five percent
and a presidential Now to your point, does we had
a two page ballot front and back last time.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I was in the poll, But I mean I sat
there for twenty minutes filling that stuff out exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And I'm going to tell you the mayor and the
city council are not going to be on the front page.
They're going to be on the second page most likely.
So you would see some drop off. You're not going
to have seventy five percent. We know there's drop off
from other races that are that far back. And to
your point, just because you get a higher voter turnout,
(18:36):
does it automatically translate into I guess a more knowledgeable
voter For lack of a better term, I think That's
a very real question, because to your point, when you're
spending twenty minutes on a ballot, at some point there
is some fatigue, I think, and people either just don't
do it or just start, you know, the old test
from high school ABC.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And how many things? Can you think this would go
back to, like early voting, so you could sit down
and over a couple of days just like read about
all these candidates. I suppose that would be a really
beneficial way to do that. But if I'm sitting in
the booth, like, oh gosh, I didn't even know this
race was a thing because of the fifteen other things
that people have been advertising for all these races, these amendments,
(19:18):
these things to go. So I mean, it sounds like
a good idea on paper, if you will, but I'm
just not sure it would actually help people know or
be prepared for our local city elections.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, I think there's a decent argument to be made
for that. And the other thing I think you do
have to realize is, you know, there when you get
in a presidential year, they're spending big bucks from these
these national and senatorial and congressional races, So I mean,
they buy up all the airtime at big prices, which
(19:51):
is good for folks like you, but local candidates, I mean,
how you going to work in there? Yeah? How you
even little if you wanted a spot, maybe, how do
you afford it?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Right?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
And how many yards don't already have signs for other major,
larger candidates that all of a sudden, now there's no
room for your sign to fit in there? Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I mean, how many signs can one put in their yard?
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Brian?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Excellent stuff. Thank you so much for stopping in and
giving us this information. I'm sure it will kind of
double back here in the next couple of weeks just
to when we get to certification kind of you know,
tie a bow on this entire race. But we always
really do appreciate the information and try to take a
load off here for a few days.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Huh, Thank you very much. Yeah, I'm going to put
my feet up this weekend and relax a little. I
love to hear that.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Brian Crazy is the election commissioner here in Douglas County.
More coming up, It's two thirty news Radio eleven ten
kfab
Who do you call to get some breakdown. It's the
guy who knows things that none of the rest of
us even know where to look for this information. So
I bring him in so he can tell us the information.
And his name is Brian Cruz. He is the election
commissioner here in Douglas County. Brian, as always, big things
to you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
How was it?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It was everything okay? On election night, everything went smooth.
From an administrative standpoint, I suppose the outcome is determined
by each individual voter in the city of Omaha.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, well, I guess that's a very good point. Had
a lot of I'm sure you know you were ready
to just kind of take a deep breath and not
think too much about things yesterday. Well, that was the
opposite for us. We were talking a lot about things yesterday,
many people with different opinions about things. The first question,
and I texted you for a rough estimate, what was
(00:53):
the voter turnout for the election?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Sure, we're going to be right about thirty two percent.
That's what I had predicted. That's we were four years ago.
Eight years ago we were thirty five percent. So you know,
we'd certainly like to see that a lot more than that.
But it's it's in line, it's what we've seen, not inconsistent.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So the next question was, and we did the math here.
Mayor jing Stouth took on R J Neary in twenty
twenty one, defeated him soundly with roughly thirty two percent
of the turnout. She had roughly sixty four to sixty
five percent of the vote. Four years later, with no
major scandal, with no major lightning rod topic that really
(01:38):
was burning Omaha to the ground. Four years later, against
a different Democrat, she gets only forty four percent with
roughly the same amount of people voting in Omaha, and
a lot of people said, how can that be? The
first thing I'm thinking of is were there other districts
that had bigger turnout than four years ago? So from
(02:00):
what you've noticed, is there any kind of start contrast
from some of the numbers in different districts versus other
districts in this particular election that you think could explain
how the mayor would have lost twenty percent of the
vote with roughly the same amount of people voting.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
You know, I think there was a couple factors in
that one, I would say, yes, I think we saw
a little heavier turnout than historically in one in three,
which for reference would be Pete Vesterson and any Bagley's
areas kind of you know, going downtown, Midtown, Uno Dundee
(02:37):
kind of up that way. You know. Out west, we
saw where Brinker and don Roe were unopposed. You know,
turnout was still in that thirty percent range.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
So there weren't people that just weren't showing up because
there wasn't a competitive council race.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
That's right now. If you analyze the numbers at the end,
I think you are going to find out there were
folks out west that definitely voted for their city council people,
even those who were not opposed but chose not to
vote for mayorst author And I don't know why that is.
I'll leave that to the political pundits and the you know,
(03:19):
the politicians, I guess to determine that. I'm just simply
here to count the votes, and I'm the numbers got well.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Governor Pillen also said it was West Omaha Republicans that
didn't get out the vote and that was what potentially costs.
So obviously he has information but I think that there's
a big question as to, you know, just how an incumbent,
you know, mayoral candidate when I think five four or
five of the council seats are going to be the
(03:48):
exact same. There wasn't like an overhaul of change with
the seven seats, but people there were a lot of
people saying, well, we just were ready for a change.
It didn't necessarily that doesn't really try what the results
were of the city council races.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Right, yeah, I think that's fair.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Now.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I think one important thing to remember is you pointed
out our je nary four years ago. I think one
very important thing to remember is John Ewing's been a
public servant for many, many years, so he had much
higher name id. You know, he's been the treasurer and
he was a police officer, things of that nature. And
(04:25):
so I think that's a factor as well, because if
you go back eight years when Heath Mellow ran, he
had been a state senator and it was a little
closer than so you know, that name I d definitely
does play into it.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
We're speaking with Brian Cruse. He's the election commissioner here
in Douglas County. Real quick Matt Case. I think we've
had a breakthrough with John Ewing. While we're on the
subject for communication, we have heard back from his campaign.
It sounds like Scott Vorhees is going to have him
on the show here in the next couple of days.
But you have heard back from the campaign here in
the last day or so. Yeah, yes, absolutely, Okay, So
(05:01):
we're working, we're making positive strides, ladies and gentlemen, to
get the new mayor, John Ewing on our radio show
on our radio station. As I mentioned Scott Vore, he
says he's going to have John Ewing on the show.
I believe he said tomorrow. Is I'll double check and
make sure so I don't false advertise there. But you
were talking to him in the hall. That's why I
asked you. But you'd think I would know these things
(05:24):
better than But Brian, I want to continue to kind
of investigate this a little bit. Early voting, yes, which
has been a big thing of the last you know,
few election cycles. In November, I early voted, which it was,
you know, I mean it's crazy. I walked in and
(05:44):
out at my precinct for the mayoral primary and the
race I know it wasn't as many people voting, but
it was just very easy to go in and out.
But so many people like to early vote these days.
So what was kind of for this election, it being
in the springtime, What did you notice in the primary?
What did you notice here in the general election? And
how many people of the of the pot that voted
(06:05):
were voting early?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Yeah, absolutely so it was sixty percent, about sixty percent
early voting in the general here. It was a little
more than that, maybe sixty three sixty four percent in
the primary. But there's no question that people all across
the city. It's not concentrated, you know, in a specific area.
Folks all across the city of Omaha, they like the
(06:28):
early voting. It's convenient, it's safe, we have the drop boxes,
it's convenient form. And the number one reason we hear
that people liked early voter is so they can sit
down at their kitchen table and really study the issues.
You know, whether you have a two page ballot or
a one page ballot. We continually hear folks like to
(06:48):
sit down and do their research.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And a lot of people who don't early vote, I guess,
have questions about how that process works. So just for
those who are listening and saying, well, it's like taking
a test home and being able to go on the
internet and you know, be able to you know, get
all the answers. Now, that's not to say that voting
an election is a test, but for people who say
(07:11):
that doesn't sound like it's as secure of a process
as me going to the poll and me having to
show my identification, then get a ballot and then have
to give the ballot back before I leave the building.
For people who are trying to understand how that all
works in how legitimate that can be. As the guy
who understands those rules, can you explain how the early
(07:33):
voting for the people who are either ordering about getting
a mail to them or picking it up and taking
it home, how does that work?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Absolutely so, it's extremely safe and secure. Both both methods
are very very safe and secure. If you like to
early vote, you have to request about We check your
signature on the request. We also have voter ID component now,
so the easiest and simplest way is to write down
your driver's license or state ID. We have agency sharing
(08:00):
we can look on the DMV. Then when you return
your ballot, we also check your signature again, and so
if we don't think signature's match or there's not a
voter ID component that matches, we will reach out, you know,
to those voters. So there's multiple checks here. You also
(08:20):
have to be a registered voter, of course, to do
either of them. If you come into our office, we
physically look at your voter ID, or if you go
to your polling place, you sign in the book and
we also look at your ID. I think it's important
to note that every single ballot is counted in our
secure counting room. Whether you vote at your polling place,
(08:43):
in our lobby or by mail. We do not count
any ballots at the polling places or any place other
than in our secure counting room. Every single ballot's brought
back to our office and counted there. And of course,
our drop boxes, you know, are under twenty four hour
surveillance from cameras to people of different parties pick them up.
(09:05):
It takes two keys to open them. We have fire
suppression systems in them. And you know, again, folks, all
across the city and the county, eighty percent of all
ballots are now returned via a dropbox rather than the
US postal service. It's so convenient. You can do it
twenty four hours a day, you don't need a stamp,
(09:25):
and they're evenly spread, you know, around the city and
the county, and like.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
You said, all under surveillance and very safe and secure. Absolutely, Brian,
can you stick around for a little bit. Sure, Absolutely,
we'll step aside and when we come back more with Brian Cruz,
election commissioner here from Douglas County to talk about the
election results from earlier this week, and plenty more of
where that came from coming up on news Radio eleven
ten kfab Well.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Don't you know Amory Songer is going to take a
quick break, but folks, he'll be back. In fact, I
think he's Now let's listen.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
In Brian Cruz.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
He is the election commissioner here in the Douglas County office,
and we're talking about the results from the mayoral election.
And I want to go to the city council real quick,
and is there any council race that you saw any
kind of larger jump than usual, because you mentioned the
(10:24):
number is essentially the same in terms of total voter
turnout about thirty two percent from four years ago to now.
Was there any district that seemed to get a bit
more active than you remember it being in twenty one.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Not necessarily you know, District seven Amy Melton and Tim Carter,
you know, was one folks were watching. Also. I think
Levon a good one in Ben Gray, but they were
really on par with about what we've seen in the past.
You know, Ben Gray had been in there in the past.
(10:57):
The folks did not return him as they did in
the mayor. I think it goes just to show you
we're called the blue dot for a reason. You know,
folks here will we voted for different presidents over the years,
different parties, We voted for different congressmans here over the years.
Oftentimes will vote one way for a president, in a
different way for our congress person. And so I really
(11:20):
do think that the folks in Omaha and Douglas County
are independently minded, and I think they probably do do
their research and they vote for who they want, necessarily
along party lines as we've seen.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Speaking of party lines, is there a way because these
are unattached candidates theoretically, which makes it very I think
very interesting because you kind of have to know the
candidate to go there. You're not just voting on an
R or a D that you're seeing next to their name.
Is there a way for you to track the Republicans,
the Democrats, the independence that are registered, because like you said,
(11:59):
that you have to be registered voter. You can register nonpartisan,
but people do register in political parties for different purposes.
Is there any statistics kind of that maybe turnout overall
was skewed one way or the other.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You know, we don't know yet. We will know in
a couple of weeks. We certified the election Thursday, May
twenty ninth, and so once we go through and give
everybody voter history, we will be able to tell how folks,
which folks voted according to their party. Now that doesn't
mean that's what they voted on the ballot, that's how
(12:35):
many of them, how many of the registered party will
do that. But when you go to your polling place
and you sign in, and you see that little barcode
next to your name. So now what we're doing is
we're going through and scan in every single person that
signed to give them vote history. And it's all part
of our audit process to make sure the number of
folks that votes in is the number of ballots that
(12:57):
went through the tabulators and we match those up to
make sure there's no big discrepancies.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
We are speaking with Brian Cruz from the Douglas County election.
Obviously he's the election commissioner here, so I know that
you guys have kind of dumps, like info dumps that
we watch on election night and it's it's like the next
one's coming at this time, the next one's coming at
this time, there's another one on Friday. So can you
explain that in exactly why it takes a little bit
(13:26):
longer for what you're going to do tomorrow versus election night.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Sure, So we've got about seven three hundred ballots to
count tomorrow. Those were early voting bouts that were turned
in Monday night and Tuesday, so we have to go
through the signature verification process, the election integrity process. We've
got to make sure they're signed and their signatures match.
On all of those, the issue is when you turn
(13:55):
them in leading up to the elections. We do all
of those each and every day, but when we're getting
thousands in a day, we have lots of computers and
lots of people that can do that every day. On
election day, all of our resources are focused on election day,
the computers are all being used by telephone operators and
(14:16):
things of that nature. We're all focused on counting ballots
from election day, so we don't one we don't physically
have the equipment to do the signature verification. But also
when you've got seventy three hundred of these, we don't
get all of these back until you know, after eight o'clock.
(14:36):
I mean, you know that that just it takes time.
That takes eight, nine, ten, twelve hours to do that,
and so you know we're, yeah, we're not going to
stay there all night and do that. I mean, it's
just we don't have this. We don't have the equipment,
we don't have the folks available, and so that's why
we do that on the Wednesday and Thursday following. It's
(14:59):
all part of the integrity process.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
So you don't want to rush through all of that
just to get the number out. You want to make
sure that it's as legitimate as somebody who would have
done it two weeks earlier.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Absolutely, you know, when we get those bolts in, we
don't just want to automatically start slicing envelope so and
then pulling them out. That's not what we do. There's
a whole process to make sure these elections are secure
and that folks have their voices heard according to the
way they voted.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So if anybody out there has questions about the legitimacy
of all of that, Brian hopefully is doing everything you
can to ease your mind that there's anything like illegitimate
about the way that things are occurring, especially just here
in Douglas County. But I think this process is very
much the same process in many other counties around Nebraska,
(15:46):
and I'm sure other states with their rules have the
same thing. So, Brian, I just want to kind of
follow this up. This race was not close enough to
where seventy three hundred votes as far as the mayor's concerned.
At least it's not going to affect the result and
Maryaging stuffs or it has already conceded to John Ewing,
So everybody is under the impression of what is going
to be that could change what the final tallies end
(16:07):
up being percentage wise. But were there any city council
races that you think could be a little close enough
to make this challengeable? I suppose for a losing candidate
based on how many uncounted balants that we have until tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Sure you know the answer to that is no, because
the margins as they stand in the city council districts
that they had races is wider than the number of
ballads that we have to count tomorrow. So even if
one hundred percent of the ballads went, you know, to
(16:45):
the candidate that's behind, it wouldn't change it. And obviously
we know that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Right of course, of course, last thing for you, Brian,
before I let you go here, I know that you
guys are staying incredibly busy trying to be as proactive
and transparent as possible with this process. For anyone also
who the transparency of this. It's so easy for us
to talk about this because it was the only stuff
(17:11):
that was on the ballot, right, And I guess we
could talk about that amendment that was also but I
don't think that was on a lot of people's radar.
If this was happening in November of like a midterm election,
if it was happening in November in a presidential election,
some things that people suggested to get that turnout number up.
My theory is that people still wouldn't know enough about
(17:32):
these races. So I have to ask you, from your perspective,
is that a realistic way to increase voter turnout? Would
that actually help our local city elections? If we did
something kind of alongside some bigger races in November of
mid term years.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
You know, there's no question that voter turnout would be
would increase just because of the sheer the sheer number
of people that vote. We get about seventy five percent
and a presidential Now to your point, does we had
a two page ballot front and back last time.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
I was in the poll, But I mean I sat
there for twenty minutes filling that stuff out exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
And I'm going to tell you the mayor and the
city council are not going to be on the front page.
They're going to be on the second page most likely.
So you would see some drop off. You're not going
to have seventy five percent. We know there's drop off
from other races that are that far back. And to
your point, just because you get a higher voter turnout,
(18:36):
does it automatically translate into I guess a more knowledgeable
voter For lack of a better term, I think That's
a very real question, because to your point, when you're
spending twenty minutes on a ballot, at some point there
is some fatigue, I think, and people either just don't
do it or just start, you know, the old test
from high school ABC.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And how many things? Can you think this would go
back to, like early voting, so you could sit down
and over a couple of days just like read about
all these candidates. I suppose that would be a really
beneficial way to do that. But if I'm sitting in
the booth, like, oh gosh, I didn't even know this
race was a thing because of the fifteen other things
that people have been advertising for all these races, these amendments,
(19:18):
these things to go. So I mean, it sounds like
a good idea on paper, if you will, but I'm
just not sure it would actually help people know or
be prepared for our local city elections.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, I think there's a decent argument to be made
for that. And the other thing I think you do
have to realize is, you know, there when you get
in a presidential year, they're spending big bucks from these
these national and senatorial and congressional races, So I mean,
they buy up all the airtime at big prices, which
(19:51):
is good for folks like you, but local candidates, I mean,
how you going to work in there? Yeah? How you
even little if you wanted a spot, maybe, how do
you afford it?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Right?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
And how many yards don't already have signs for other major,
larger candidates that all of a sudden, now there's no
room for your sign to fit in there? Right? Right?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I mean, how many signs can one put in their yard?
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Brian?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Excellent stuff. Thank you so much for stopping in and
giving us this information. I'm sure it will kind of
double back here in the next couple of weeks just
to when we get to certification kind of you know,
tie a bow on this entire race. But we always
really do appreciate the information and try to take a
load off here for a few days.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Huh, Thank you very much. Yeah, I'm going to put
my feet up this weekend and relax a little. I
love to hear that.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Brian Crazy is the election commissioner here in Douglas County.
More coming up, It's two thirty news Radio eleven ten
kfab
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