The Worrisome Churn of Election Officials
Highlights of our weekly reporting plus bonus content.
Top election officials quitting has become a national trend, especially across Western states, where according to a recent study by the nonprofit watchdog group Issue One more than 160 top local election officials have resigned since November 2020.
Nevada and Washoe County have been no exception. The latest drop of the electoral mantle was this week when Jamie Rodriguez decided to step down from her role as the county’s registrar of voters, just five weeks before the confusing dual Republican primary and caucus.
The symbolic non binding state-run primary on Feb. 6 will not include frontrunner former President Donald Trump, who will be contesting the caucus held by the Nevada Republican Party on Feb. 8 instead.
According to the Washoe County website, the mission of the Washoe County Registrar of Voters Department “is to ensure that each citizen of Washoe County who is eligible to register and voter is able to do so; that Washoe County's Elections are operated with the utmost integrity, transparency, and accountability; and that the department is known for excellence in customer service and the administration of elections.”
That’s an important task, which until the most recent contentious election cycles, barely got noticed.
Rodriguez ended up playing an important transitional role, managing a new voter registration database, as she took over in the 2022 to 2024 timeframe after former registrar Deanna Spikula herself resigned amid harassment from hard right activists claiming the 2020 election was improper, burnout and briefly going on leave.
Rodriguez, previously a government liaison lobbying on behalf of Washoe County at the Nevada Legislature, cited the need to spend more time with her family as well as pursuing other opportunities.
Deputy registrar Cari-Ann Burgess is now expected to serve in the interim role with help from assistant county manager Kate Thomas. Burgess has previously worked in elections in Minnesota and Douglas County.
A detailed message was sent by the County’s communications manager Bethany Drysdale this week on what you need to know about the presidential preference primaries, open only to voters registered as Republicans and Democrats.
The Nevada Democratic presidential primary will be part of that party’s process, with 48 delegates being allocated to presidential candidates.
With the urgency, the Washoe County Board of Commissioners could decide on a regular appointment at its next meeting January 16th.
Washoe County is considered to be Nevada’s only swing county in a swing state. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar has made it a priority to better retain election officials, advocating for new laws which make it a felony to harass or intimate election officials.
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