Polling Place Confusion
Omaha - Tonight, there is growing confusion for about 2,000 North Omaha voters.
This morning, we were there as the Fairfax Neighborhood Association President took on the man in charge.
Douglas County Election Commissioner Dave Phipps says he closed polling places in a fair manner, but thousands of voters received notice. Their new voting location is on the closed list.
Frustrated, Fairfax Neighborhood President Ella Willis wants anwers from Douglas County Election Commissioner Dave Phipps
"My voting place is at King Science Center. Why did you change my voting place?" asks Willis.
"I don't know the specific reason but i know that we had to change several of them because they work in new precincts so it all kind of came about because of the precincts," replied Phipps.
Willis and her neighbors opened their mail boxes yesterday to find their new voter cards and learned their polling place has changed.
Preston Love, with the North Omaha Voter Call to Action Project says, "She's been voting at King Science Center and she has not moved."
"Right, all those precincts have changed and so that's why the polling places have changed," said Phipps.
Phipps admits the cards are wrong for 2,000 voters in District 2.
It shows Willis would vote at the Christ Child Center, and that's the mistake.
The center is not a polling place, according to Phipps.
City Councilman Ben Gray negotiated closing the Christ Child location to keep a polling place at Evans Tower.
Ben Gray told us last week, he chose Evans Tower for a good reason.
"They've closed about all of the elderly towers. I was able to make them keep Evans Tower and trade it out for something else where the voter turnout will likely be less."
Dave phipps says "The reason that one is closed is because we had a meeting with the county board, Ben Gray was there, and we talked with both about moving Evans Tower."
Willis asks, "But why you send the card out saying (that)?"
"The cards were already in the printing process," was Phipps response.
"Let's hope that what is in my gut is not true which is this is all part of the master plan to retard the vote of those folks who tend to want to vote for obama number 1 and progressive issues number 2," said Preston Love.
Clerical error or something fishy? Either way, it's the first big mistake in Omaha's polling place shuffle.








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