Election integrity is a top priority of the Douglas County Election Commission. Our office follows all applicable Nebraska laws and best practices to conduct every election within the highest possible standards. Following is a sampling of the procedures followed to ensure accurate election ballots and results.
Douglas County programs and prints its ballots and programs its counting machines. Before ballot printing begins, three independent tests are conducted with test ballots to ensure the accuracy of programming for the ballots and counting machines. The test ballots are manually tallied, and those totals are then compared to the machine totals.
Douglas County official ballot drop boxes are constructed of stainless steel, securely fastened to the ground, have a narrow opening for depositing ballot envelopes and other election materials, and contents are retrieved on a frequent basis.
Every time voted ballots are handled, the task is performed by employees or election workers of differing political parties. This includes retrieving early voting ballots from drop boxes, opening early voting ballots, preparing polling place ballots for counting, and counting all ballots.
Detailed information on the verification and processing of early voting ballots is located on the Early Voting page.
Douglas County uses Model DS850 counting machines purchased by the State of Nebraska from Election Systems & Software to count election ballots. These machines are never connected to the internet or to each other; data is transferred from each machine via dedicated, secure flash drives to an air gap computer that is never connected to the internet and is stored securely.
Prior to counting official ballots, each machine is tested for programming accuracy by comparing manually tallied results to the machine results.
Ballots are tabulated by trained employees or election workers of differing political parties within a secure room with observation windows. Access to the room requires double authentication, and cameras provide an additional level of security.
As part of every election and after all ballots have been counted, Election Commission staff conduct a post-election canvass, similar to an audit, in which the number of voters and the number of ballots, per ballot number and per voting method, are compared.
At the conclusion of the county canvass, election results for statewide and federal offices are securely transmitted to the Secretary of State's office for review by the state canvassing board.
During the canvass, Election Commission staff perform a hand count (manual audit) of ballots for randomly-selected precincts and races for every election. Results are reported to the Secretary of State's office for statewide elections.
Chapter 32 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes is the Election Act. The Douglas County Election Commission conducts elections in full compliance with all relevant laws.
The Douglas County Election Commission takes allegations of voter fraud very seriously and partners with the Douglas County Sheriff's office and the Douglas County Attorney's office to investigate substantiated claims of fraud with evidence provided beyond social media posts, videos, etc.