Election officials concerned about job turnover leading up to November
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – State election officials say they’re concerned by the amount of turnover among leaders in county election offices, especially as the 2024 general election approaches.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the NC State Board of Elections, said in the last five years county election directors have changed 58 times. So far this year, there have been seven retirements or resignations among county election directors.
“In an environment that has become more hostile, there’s more harassment toward election officials. And, also, we have seen a tremendous amount of change in North Carolina election law,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the NC State Board of Elections. “The difference, I think, is when they have that opportunity to retire, are they willing to see us through one more big election? And, the fuel is just not in the fuel tank for some of them.”
Brinson Bell, who used to be a county elections director, said the demands of the job have changed significantly in recent years.
“Elections became critical infrastructure. So, the security, the cyber and physical security, having that knowledge is something else that’s expected of an elections official,” she said.
In a presentation given to the State Board of Elections this week, Brinson Bell noted that in 2024, between 27 and 30 county election officials in North Carolina will oversee their first presidential election.
“We are going to be going into this huge election with individuals who are very skilled, very educated, very talented, but may not have the foundational experience of leading an elections office through the largest election that we carry out,” she said.
Of the 58 directors who left their positions since 2019, NCSBE says 36 retired, 20 resigned, one died and one was terminated.
Brinson Bell said pay is an issue as well as adapting to changes in state election law.
There could be additional significant changes before the November general election.
Republicans in the legislature are appealing to the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision to strike down a law the GOP passed to restructure state and county election boards.
Those boards would become evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, instead of having a majority of members be the same party as the governor. In addition, the legislature would take the power to appoint people to those boards from the governor.
A bipartisan panel of judges ruled that the legislature violated separation of powers based on previous state Supreme Court rulings.
“We sort of knew that going into it. So, our argument will be the Supreme Court should overturn bad precedent,” said House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland).
The state Supreme Court now has a Republican majority, which could rule in the legislature’s favor and allow the law to take effect.
Republicans say it would lead to bipartisan decisions about administering elections, but critics fear it will lead to gridlock.
“We need opportunity to really have some consistency in our funding, in our workforce, in our training, and see this election through,” said Brinson Bell.
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