Report: 40% of top Texas election officials resign each presidential cycle

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — As election officials in Texas and nationwide face increased pressure and harassment, a new report shows a steady increase in the turnover rate of top administrators.

A Tuesday report from the Bipartisan Policy Center shows nationwide, turnover grew from 28% in 2004 to 39% in 2022. The report looked at turnover rate data from the years 2000 to 2024 amongst election officials, which it defines as a “change in a jurisdiction’s chief election administrator since the November general election held four years prior.”

In Texas, there was a spike in the number of election administrators quitting in the mid-2000s — the turnover rate in 2004 was 28% and rose to 44% in 2008. It dropped again to 30% in 2012 and rose to 40% in 2016 — a rate that has stayed relatively the same since.

“We did this intentionally to add some historical context to current conversations around turnover, which tend to frame it as a tsunami or an exodus of local election officials,” said Rachel Orey, co-author of the study.

Researchers cited threats to election officials as some of the main contributing factors for the increasing turnover. Approximately 25% of local election officials reported abuse, harassment or threats, according to a 2022 Early Voting Information Center survey of local election officials.

“It’s draining on their psychological and physical safety,” Orey said.

Election officials in urban areas experience more threats, the report shows. Two-thirds of officials in jurisdictions with more than 250,000 residents reported being harassed, while just 20% of respondents from areas with a population under 25,000 said the same.

Dana DeBeauvoir — who oversaw elections as Travis County Clerk for more than 30 years — said she has major concerns about these trends and the future of elections. DeBeauvoir retired in 2022.

“These are your neighbors and friends who are actually doing this job…most elections administrators are appointed, which means they don’t have a lot of personal power to protect themselves,” she said.

Administering elections has become more complex, and the report says new voting laws and cybersecurity threats are contributing to the increasing turnover rate.

“This has become an I.T. kind of job, so that’s got a lot of complicated moving parts,” DeBeauvoir said. “You want to have lots of eyes looking in and lots of checks and balances in order to maintain election security. So it’s not an easy job. And it’s even harder to do when you got somebody screaming at you.”

Because of the increased demands, the report says “administering free and fair elections has become a professionalized, year-round affair.”

Despite this, 34% of jurisdictions do not have a full-time election administrator, and an additional 17% have one full-time election worker, according to a cited 2020 EVIC survey.

“The number one thing I hear from election officials, they really care about democracy. They want the election to go well, but they’re tired,” Orey said.

Researchers note that increasing funding to election offices will help with things like hiring additional staff to help them meet their needs.

“Our research shows that election administrators are well prepared to administer the 2024 presidential election,” Orey said.

The report shows 65% of 2024 administrators have experience working presidential elections.

For solutions, the report recommends that state governments offer more pay for election workers and create succession plans to help pass down knowledge from years of experience.

“These administrators are doing a desperately needed job. We need competence and continuity in this work, we need to make sure that these folks are supported in their community,” DeBeauvoir said.

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