Meet the Omaha man who has worked every election since 1960
By Aaron Hegarty
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — Around 1,000 people are helping to put on Tuesday’s election.
One of them is an 86-year-old Omaha man who says he’s worked every election since 1960.
“We are going to the German American Society,” George Reed said.
Reed is spending his afternoon driving to different polling locations to check in and take care of even the smallest details.
As Nebraska voter registrations drop, Democrats reach all-time low2025 Omaha election guide: Mayoral, city council candidates This is one of the many tasks he’s had at the Douglas County Election Commission since his first election in 1960. That’s the year John F. Kennedy Jr. defeated Richard Nixon.
“I just took a day’s vacation, had done it; I enjoyed it. I’ve been doing it ever since,” Reed said.
Reed can list plenty of things that have changed since then.
“The ballots were not made on very expensive paper,” Reed said. “We tried not to sweat on the paper because the paper kind of dissolved. So they definitely improved the quality of paper they make the ballots with.”
voting in prmiaryPrimary election 2025: Omaha residents cast their ballots for mayoral, city council candidates Sixty-five years later, he’s a member of the Hall of Fame at the Election Commission.
“Basically, at this point, he’s our walking historian,” Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse said.
Kruse is the 14th election commissioner that Reed has worked with.
The records don’t go back so far, but Kruse said he trusts Reed when he says he hasn’t missed one.
“Nothing’s ever kept him home, which is pretty incredible. So it just goes to show we, we really couldn’t do it without folks like him,” Kruse said.
Reed thinks everyone should give it a try once. But for now, his spot is taken.
“One day, I’ll probably wake up one morning and say I’ve had enough,” Reed said. “If you have some really good co-workers, and most of them are, it really makes a day go by pretty good. It’s a long day. We get to meet a lot of very interesting people.”
Reed points out it’s not a lot, but you do get paid. He said from seeing how it’s done, the elections here are very secure.
The election commissioner said there had been no major issues Tuesday.
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