Regional Industry & News

Early voting applications are out in Douglas County - but is the process secure?

Douglas County Election Commissioner expresses full confidence in ballot security, citing ID processes, other checks

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - With Douglas County early ballot applications in the mail, critics continue to take aim at the process, fueled by unfounded claims made by President Trump himself.

Despite no evidence of widespread corruption, Trump has claimed that mail-in ballots are corrupt, and has asked the Supreme Court to allow his administration to make changes to mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections in November.

But officials here in Douglas County say mail-in voting is safe and secure.

“In the primary, we had 111,000 that voted early. That didn’t include a couple of thousand that came here to vote in person before the election,” Douglas County Election Commissioner Danielle Jensen told First Alert 6 on Thursday.

Jensen said mail-in voting is still popular here, with many voters choosing to use drop boxes located across the county to submit their early voting applications and their ballots for several election cycles now.

It’s a secure process and has safeguards, she said.

“We’re checking them to make sure it’s the right ballot that the person has returned the correct ballot - that their signature matches,” Jensen said.

Another security step is located on the bottom of the mail-in voting application form.

“On that green card, you would write your Nebraska driver’s license or state ID on that. If you have another form of photo ID you’re using that’s a valid form, you would include a photo copy of that with your application,” Jensen said.

Early voting ballots will start getting mailed out in late September, so voters could be making their decisions and dropping off their ballots in early October.

Mail in voting process

The Douglas County Election Commission sent dropped the green postcard applications in the mail on Wednesday, en route to the those on the county’s Early Voting Request List. Those voters should received the applications by early August.

Registered voters who don’t receive a card but do want to cast their ballots early will need to submit their signed application in writing. More information about getting on the list is available on the Douglas County Election Commission website. The commission must receive those applications by Friday, Oct. 23.

Ballots will be mailed out starting on Monday, Sept. 28. They must be received by the Election Commission by the time polls close on Election Day - Tuesday, Nov. 3.