AP

Exodus of election officials raises concerns of partisanship

Jun 13, 2021, 7:52 AM | Updated: 9:09 am

There is no shortage of job openings for local election officials in Michigan. It’s the same in Pennsylvania. Wisconsin, too.

After facing threats and intimidation during the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, and now the potential of new punishments in certain states, county officials who run elections are quitting or retiring early. The once quiet job of election administration has become a political minefield thanks to the baseless claims of widespread fraud that continue to be pushed by many in the Republican Party.

The exits raise a pressing question: Who will take these jobs? Barb Byrum, clerk of Ingham County, Michigan, has an idea.

“These conspiracy theorists are in it for the long haul. They’re in it to completely crumble our republic, and they’re looking at these election administrator positions,” said Byrum, a Democrat. “They’re playing the long game.”

It’s difficult to quantify exactly how many election officials across the country have left their posts and why, since the departures are not generally tallied. Retirements also are common after presidential elections.

But in places that do track such information, along with anecdotal accounts from county officials, it is clear that many have recently left because of the newfound partisan rancor around the jobs and the threats many local election workers faced leading up to the November election and afterward as former President Donald Trump and his allies challenged the results.

About a third of Pennsylvania’s county election officials have left in the last year and a half, according to a spokesman for the state’s county commissioners association, who cited heavy workloads and rampant misinformation related to voting among the reasons.

“It was particularly challenging last year with all the misinformation and angst out there,” said Lisa Schaefer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. “And none of it was caused by county election officials.”

The executive director of a clerks association in Wisconsin said more than two-dozen clerks have retired since the presidential election and another 30 clerks or their deputies quit by the end of 2020. Thirteen have left since the beginning of this year. In Michigan, Byrum said she didn’t know a precise number of newly vacant positions but was able to rattle off several seasoned election officials who have recently left.

The local election jobs are being vacated as Trump’s false claims of fraud persist within the GOP and provide a platform for his loyalists to launch campaigns to become top election officials in several swing states.

In Georgia, U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Trump recruit who voted to overturn the presidential results in the House of Representatives, is challenging Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who has been attacked by his own party for upholding President Joe Biden’s victory.

Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, who was at the Jan. 6 rally outside the Capitol and is a chief supporter of a partisan review of ballots in Maricopa County, is running for secretary of state. Former Nevada lawmaker Jim Marchant, who has clung to the conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from Trump, is campaigning to replace Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, who has repeatedly denied claims of election fraud. Cegavske can’t run again because of term limits.

Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director for Common Cause, which advocates for expanded voter access, said that while the statewide positions come with more power, local officials generally have much discretion over how to solve common Election Day issues such as long lines, voter roll problems or trouble with voting machines.

“If you have an elections official who doesn’t want to expand access to the ballot, who finds democracy disturbing to them, they’re not going to fix problems and then they’re going to multiply,” she said.

Races for county offices receive far less attention than those for statewide positions, and many of those roles aren’t up for election for another year or more. Still, partisanship has already seeped into the process.

Republicans in Michigan chose not to re-nominate a GOP member of the state election board after he voted to certify Biden’s win in the state. In Scott County, Iowa, a GOP board chose not to hold a special election after the abrupt resignation of the longtime top elections official, a Democrat, and instead appointed a Republican.

The exodus comes as Republicans in a number of states pursue legislation that imposes new fines or criminal penalties on local election officials or makes it easier to remove them, as part of the GOP campaign to rewrite rules for voting and administering elections.

A new law in Iowa imposes a $10,000 fine on election administrators for a technical infraction of election rules. A similar law in Florida could lead to $25,000 fines for election supervisors if a ballot drop box is accessible outside early voting hours or is left unsupervised.

Republicans in Texas have pushed a measure to make it a crime for local election officials to send voters unsolicited absentee ballot materials. Georgia’s new election law allows the GOP-dominated legislature to appoint a board that can replace a local election official.

Wendy Helgeson, president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association and clerk of the village of Greenville, said the new penalties, coupled with the charged atmosphere around election work, could make the job unpalatable to some.

“It’s hard to convince someone it’s a good way to give back to the community when you’re afraid of going to clerk jail,” she said. “It’s harder and harder to get people to work in government as a whole.”

___

Izaguirre reported from Lindenhurst, New York.

___

Associated Press coverage of voting rights receives support in part from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Ray Epps Ray Epps, an Arizona man who became the center of a conspiracy theory about Jan. 6, 2021, ...

Associated Press

Ray Epps, an Arizona man who supported Trump, pleads guilty to Capital riot charge

Ray Epps, the target of a conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge.

17 hours ago

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, to ...

Associated Press

Trump refuses to say in a TV interview how he watched the Jan. 6 attack unfold at the US Capitol

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot.

4 days ago

This frame grab from video, provided by the Mexican government, shows Ovidio Guzman Lopez being det...

Associated Press

Mexico extradites son of ‘El Chapo,’ Ovidio Guzman Lopez to US

The son of notorious cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, Ovidio Guzman Lopez was extradited to the U.S. on Friday.

5 days ago

impeachments in US history...

Associated Press

A look at notable impeachments in US history, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was acquitted Saturday on during his impeachment trial. Here's a roundup of impeachments in U.S. history.

5 days ago

The sticker price is displayed in the window of an unsold 2023 Navigator sports-utility vehicle at ...

Associated Press

The auto workers strike will drive up car prices, but not right away — unless consumers panic

Car shoppers are heading for a new round of sticker shock if the strike by the United Auto Workers doesn’t end soon, officials say.

5 days ago

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announces an order restricting people from carrying guns in Bernalillo ...

Associated Press

Group sues after New Mexico governor suspends right to carry guns in Albuquerque in public

The New Mexico governor's emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public near Albuquerque drew an immediate court challenge.

12 days ago

Sponsored Articles

Sanderson Ford...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford congratulates D-backs’ on drive to great first half of 2023

The Arizona Diamondbacks just completed a red-hot first half of the major league season, and Sanderson Ford wants to send its congratulations to the ballclub.

...

Mayo Clinic

Game on! Expert sports physicals focused on you

With tryouts quickly approaching, now is the time for parents to schedule physicals for their student-athlete. The Arizona Interscholastic Association requires that all student-athletes must have a physical exam completed before participating in team practices or competition.

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Here are the biggest tips to keep your AC bill low this summer

PHOENIX — In Arizona during the summer, having a working air conditioning unit is not just a pleasure, but a necessity. No one wants to walk from their sweltering car just to continue to be hot in their home. As the triple digits hit around the Valley and are here to stay, your AC bill […]

Exodus of election officials raises concerns of partisanship