Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gary Sadlmayer here Jim Rose and company. We welcome Brian
Cruz back to the program. Douglas County Election Commissioner. Brian,
Good morning, Hey.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, Gary. Got a little nap yesterday, got some
sleep overnight, feeling great.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I was wondering, Yeah, it was were you up basically
all night election night?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Pretty much twenty four hours. I got here about four
thirty four to forty five Tuesday morning, and left here
about four o'clock Wednesday morning, and then I was back
here at eight o'clock yesterday morning.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, so left what is left to be done? Brian.
The big question, of course everybody that I'm getting asked
is about the Bacon Bargus race. Don pretty much declared
himself the winner. His team looked at the metrics and
said it would be virtually impossible for Bargus to come back.
But it's not officially official yet, is it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
That's right? So you know, we have about six thousand,
seven hundred ballots to count from ballots turned in on
basically Monday evening and Tuesday in our dropboxes. The vast
majority of those will be accepted, but of course some
folks will have forgot to sign them, you know. In
that then we've got about we've got about five hundred
(01:17):
and sixty provisional ballots that will be counted on Monday,
November eighteenth, now historically about eighty percent of those will
be accepted. And then we have about twenty six hundred
resolution ballots, ballots that couldn't be counted by the machines.
Voters tore them, spilled their coffee on them, maybe they
(01:38):
used a purple pin instead of a black pin. But
it's important to keep in mind of that fifteen thousand.
Not all of those will be accepted for a variety
of reasons.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, fifteen thousand, and the margin right now is much
less than that, so obvious. How likely do you think,
based on just on your experience, I'm not asking you
to speculate on the race, but based on your experience,
is it likely that this could that this will end
up in a recount or do you think Bacon's probably right?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I'm not sure about that. There's no doubt that this
will close in. You know, it's about an eighty three
hundred difference right now. I expect you know, that will
close in to some but both candidates will get some
of those votes. You know, the law says Gary that
if a candidate failed to be nominator elected by one
(02:34):
percent or less of the votes received by the candidate
who received the highest vote. So it's a pretty narrow
margin for recount there. And you got to remember it's
not just Douglas County. We got Saunders County, and we
got Sarpie County, and I know there's over a thousand
provisional bouts outstanding in Sarpee County as well.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Well, that was my next question. Do you have an
account on where the remaining ballots are that are that
they need to be counted? In other words, from which counties?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
You know we've got the approximately fifteen thousand. I know
there's over one thousand in Sarpy and I haven't talked
to Saunders to check with them. We have the vast majority,
you know, but again you got to remember in Douglas
these votes will both break both ways. Sure, Sarpy, as
(03:29):
we all know is tends to be heavily more Republican.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay, what else is up in the air this morning,
Ryan's fine, Sure, other races.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
The big one we're watching would be that LD thirteen
Nick Batter and Ashley spebe Right now, there are only
forty one votes apart, so that is in the recount range.
But again, we got to count these other ballots to
see what happens. Other than that, there's really not too
much on our radar this morning for recount. But we'll
(04:02):
just see how this plays out as we count more votes.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Now in the batter speede race, are all of those ballots,
to the best of your knowledge, legitimate or will you
be throwing any out?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, some of the provisionals will not count, so
I haven't seen. I haven't got down to see how
many provisionals are specifically in you know, their race, But
historically it's about an eighty percent acceptance, right, so there
will be, you know, some of those that won't be
(04:34):
accepted for a variety of reasons. I just am not
sure how many bouts we have yet to count specifically
in that race. That's on my that's on my little
yellow notes.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Stay here to do list. Yeah, So is this do
you know, Brian? I assume you do. Is this the
biggest turnout yet in Douglas County?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I think we're going to be pretty darn close to
twenty twenty. I don't know if we're gonna top what
we had in twenty twenty. In twenty twenty, we had
two hundred and seventy eight thousand, five hundred and nine voters.
It'll be close, but I don't know if we'll top that.
(05:19):
We might be just a little under that. But I
will tell you this, it's probably the smoothest presidential race
I've ever ran. You know, we had COVID four years ago,
twenty sixteen. I was just getting going. So I just
thank the voters of Douglas County and are poll workers
because this is by far the smoothest presidential I've conducted.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, that's great. Did the massive early vote turnout and
we saw those lines day after day after day wrapping
around your building there? Did that take pressure off the
polling places on election day?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
No doubt about it. The early voting by mail and
the early voting in person definitely took pressure off of
the polling places. We saw a big surge right away
at eight o'clock. We saw lines at eight o'clock on
election morning, you know, at a lot of polling places,
and then it really kind of was pretty even throughout
(06:16):
the day. But yes, the early voting in that first
morning rush really helped the rest of the day go
very smooth.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah. The reason I asked is big, because I assumed
it was. The reason I asked is because when I
went to my polling place on election day, it was busier.
I didn't have to wait, I didn't have to wait,
but it was busier than I had ever seen it.
So that just speaks to the massive turnout. I means
it was remarkable and good.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Absolutely, you know, there was something on this ballot for everybody,
so many bout initiatives, races to senators. It was an
unprecedented ballot. There was just something for everybody to get
out and have their voice heard on.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Well, you've been a tremendous resource, Brian, thanks for everything,
and we'll stay in touch at any wrinkles arise.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
All right, okay, well thanks for having me on and
helping us get the information out to your listeners. Guys,
have a great day.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You got it. Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Cruz
Gary Sadlmayer here Jim Rose and company. We welcome Brian
Cruz back to the program. Douglas County Election Commissioner. Brian,
Good morning, Hey.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, Gary. Got a little nap yesterday, got some
sleep overnight, feeling great.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I was wondering, Yeah, it was were you up basically
all night election night?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Pretty much twenty four hours. I got here about four
thirty four to forty five Tuesday morning, and left here
about four o'clock Wednesday morning, and then I was back
here at eight o'clock yesterday morning.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, so left what is left to be done? Brian.
The big question, of course everybody that I'm getting asked
is about the Bacon Bargus race. Don pretty much declared
himself the winner. His team looked at the metrics and
said it would be virtually impossible for Bargus to come back.
But it's not officially official yet, is it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
That's right? So you know, we have about six thousand,
seven hundred ballots to count from ballots turned in on
basically Monday evening and Tuesday in our dropboxes. The vast
majority of those will be accepted, but of course some
folks will have forgot to sign them, you know. In
that then we've got about we've got about five hundred
(01:17):
and sixty provisional ballots that will be counted on Monday,
November eighteenth, now historically about eighty percent of those will
be accepted. And then we have about twenty six hundred
resolution ballots, ballots that couldn't be counted by the machines.
Voters tore them, spilled their coffee on them, maybe they
(01:38):
used a purple pin instead of a black pin. But
it's important to keep in mind of that fifteen thousand.
Not all of those will be accepted for a variety
of reasons.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, fifteen thousand, and the margin right now is much
less than that, so obvious. How likely do you think,
based on just on your experience, I'm not asking you
to speculate on the race, but based on your experience,
is it likely that this could that this will end
up in a recount or do you think Bacon's probably right?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I'm not sure about that. There's no doubt that this
will close in. You know, it's about an eighty three
hundred difference right now. I expect you know, that will
close in to some but both candidates will get some
of those votes. You know, the law says Gary that
if a candidate failed to be nominator elected by one
(02:34):
percent or less of the votes received by the candidate
who received the highest vote. So it's a pretty narrow
margin for recount there. And you got to remember it's
not just Douglas County. We got Saunders County, and we
got Sarpie County, and I know there's over a thousand
provisional bouts outstanding in Sarpee County as well.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Well, that was my next question. Do you have an
account on where the remaining ballots are that are that
they need to be counted? In other words, from which counties?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
You know we've got the approximately fifteen thousand. I know
there's over one thousand in Sarpy and I haven't talked
to Saunders to check with them. We have the vast majority,
you know, but again you got to remember in Douglas
these votes will both break both ways. Sure, Sarpy, as
(03:29):
we all know is tends to be heavily more Republican.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay, what else is up in the air this morning,
Ryan's fine, Sure, other races.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
The big one we're watching would be that LD thirteen
Nick Batter and Ashley spebe Right now, there are only
forty one votes apart, so that is in the recount range.
But again, we got to count these other ballots to
see what happens. Other than that, there's really not too
much on our radar this morning for recount. But we'll
(04:02):
just see how this plays out as we count more votes.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Now in the batter speede race, are all of those ballots,
to the best of your knowledge, legitimate or will you
be throwing any out?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, some of the provisionals will not count, so
I haven't seen. I haven't got down to see how
many provisionals are specifically in you know, their race, But
historically it's about an eighty percent acceptance, right, so there
will be, you know, some of those that won't be
(04:34):
accepted for a variety of reasons. I just am not
sure how many bouts we have yet to count specifically
in that race. That's on my that's on my little
yellow notes.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Stay here to do list. Yeah, So is this do
you know, Brian? I assume you do. Is this the
biggest turnout yet in Douglas County?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I think we're going to be pretty darn close to
twenty twenty. I don't know if we're gonna top what
we had in twenty twenty. In twenty twenty, we had
two hundred and seventy eight thousand, five hundred and nine voters.
It'll be close, but I don't know if we'll top that.
(05:19):
We might be just a little under that. But I
will tell you this, it's probably the smoothest presidential race
I've ever ran. You know, we had COVID four years ago,
twenty sixteen. I was just getting going. So I just
thank the voters of Douglas County and are poll workers
because this is by far the smoothest presidential I've conducted.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, that's great. Did the massive early vote turnout and
we saw those lines day after day after day wrapping
around your building there? Did that take pressure off the
polling places on election day?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
No doubt about it. The early voting by mail and
the early voting in person definitely took pressure off of
the polling places. We saw a big surge right away
at eight o'clock. We saw lines at eight o'clock on
election morning, you know, at a lot of polling places,
and then it really kind of was pretty even throughout
(06:16):
the day. But yes, the early voting in that first
morning rush really helped the rest of the day go
very smooth.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yeah. The reason I asked is big, because I assumed
it was. The reason I asked is because when I
went to my polling place on election day, it was busier.
I didn't have to wait, I didn't have to wait,
but it was busier than I had ever seen it.
So that just speaks to the massive turnout. I means
it was remarkable and good.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Absolutely, you know, there was something on this ballot for everybody,
so many bout initiatives, races to senators. It was an
unprecedented ballot. There was just something for everybody to get
out and have their voice heard on.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Well, you've been a tremendous resource, Brian, thanks for everything,
and we'll stay in touch at any wrinkles arise.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
All right, okay, well thanks for having me on and
helping us get the information out to your listeners. Guys,
have a great day.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You got it. Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Cruz
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