Election Commissioner Dave Phipps

Dave Phipps was sworn-in to fulfill a partial term as the Douglas County Election Commissioner on July 7, 2005, and re-appointed to a new four-year term on January 1, 2008. Prior to his appointment as Election Commissioner, Dave served as the Election Board and Resource Coordinator.

As Election Commissioner, Dave has worked extremely hard to use technology to save money for the taxpayers. In 2006, Douglas County became the first county in the country to program and print all its ballots and to program the ballot scanning equipment in-house. This move saves Douglas County taxpayers over $250,000 every year. He has reduced the number of full-time staff members in the election office by over 25% saving over $100,000 per year in personnel costs.

As the Election Board and Resource Coordinator, Dave was in charge of the recruitment, training, and coordination for over 2,000 poll workers. He also managed the polling places for approximately 340 voting precincts and over 300,000 registered voters. Working with the polling places, Dave was able to implement the new Help America Vote Act (HAVA) rules and regulations. This knowledge, combined with his understanding of technology, allowed Dave to take the lead in the implementation of the new state-wide voter registration system, as well as redeveloping several key processes within the office.

In 2002, he served on Congressman Lee Terry’s successful Congressional campaign, as the Political Director and Deputy Campaign Manager. During his time on the campaign, Dave assisted in the day-to-day operations and developed the campaign’s grassroots strategy.

In the mid 1990’s, Dave served as the Information Technology Director for the Nebraska State Treasurer’s Office. As one of the people in charge of the Nebraska Child Support Collection & Disbursement Unit, he helped to successfully implement a state-wide call center as well as develop a new child support collection system. He developed the State Treasurer's Office website and maintained the office's technology infrastructure. He worked with all the staff to ensure they had the tools necessary to do their jobs in the most efficient manner possible.

Dave Phipps is a native Nebraskan. He was born and raised in Wakefield, Nebraska where he graduated from high school. He then went on to study Political Science and Economics at Iowa State University and Wayne State College. Dave has been active in the Nebraska Republican party, the Nebraska College Republicans, and has volunteered for various federal, state, and local campaigns.