Current:Home > InvestElections head in Nevada’s lone swing county resigns, underscoring election turnover in key state-LoTradeCoin
Elections head in Nevada’s lone swing county resigns, underscoring election turnover in key state
View Date:2024-12-24 07:35:34
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The rapid turnover among election officials in Nevada continued on Tuesday, when the top election official in Nevada’s lone swing county abruptly announced her resignation less than a month before early voting commences for the Feb. 6 presidential preference primary.
Washoe County Registrar of Voters Jamie Rodriguez said in her resignation letter that she wanted to pursue opportunities away from elections and spend more time with family ahead of a crucial 2024 election cycle.
Her last day will be March 15, though she will use her accrued time before then.
Eleven of Nevada’s 17 counties have had turnover in top county election positions since the 2020 election, most of which occurred between 2020 and the 2022 midterms, according to an Associated Press tally.
That already included Washoe County, whose past registrar of voters, Deanna Spikula, resigned in June 2022 due to death threats and harassment.
The county had no additional comment on Rodriguez’s departure, other than forwarding along Rodriguez’s resignation letter, which was first reported by KRNV-TV in Reno.
Washoe County was the subject of an extensive elections audit that found rapid turnover and understaffing among the office hindered smooth election processes, communication with county residents and ballot development and preparation.
The county has hired additional elections staff since then – including Rodriguez’s replacement, current deputy registrar of voters Cari-Ann Burgess, who joined the department in September after previously working in elections in Minnesota and rural Douglas County, Nevada.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month before Rodriguez resigned, Burgess said preparation for the Feb. 6 primary, which will mostly remain symbolic for Republicans, was on schedule and that there had not been a lot of outside inquiries yet about the primary.
“We’re sitting really well,” she said last month. “The road to February sixth is going to be pretty smooth.”
The resignations across the Western swing state since 2020 were due to a confluence of factors: some received threats and harassment because of false claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election perpetrated by former president Donald Trump. Others resigned over a lack of support from the state. And many struggled with drastic changes in Nevada voting processes that fell on their small county offices to implement, including a universal mail ballot system, where ballots were sent to every registered voter in the mail.
It remains unclear if those factors resulted in Rodriguez’s resignation. She did not respond to a text sent to her work phone requesting comment on her departure.
The resignations across Nevada had slowed slightly since the 2022 midterms. Rodriguez is the second top county election official to resign in the past year.
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, the state’s top election official, has focused on better retaining election officials across the state amidst the turnover. He pushed new state laws last legislative session that make it a felony to harass or intimidate election officials while on the job, along with training courses and a manual that would streamline preparation for new officials thrust into leading elections roles.
“We have to be ready and prepared to deal with the team changing talent,” Aguilar testified in front of state lawmakers last March while pushing for the manual.
His office did not have an immediate response to Rodriguez’s departure on Tuesday.
___
Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Stern on X, formerly Twitter: @gabestern326
veryGood! (73)
Related
- Review: 'Emilia Pérez' is the most wildly original film you'll see in 2024
- 'The Notebook' actress Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer's disease, son says
- Judge sets $10M bond for second Venezuelan man accused of killing a 12-year-old Houston girl
- The Daily Money: Bailing on home insurance
- 2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
- Staff member in critical condition after fight at Wisconsin youth prison
- 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists warn that Trump's economic plans could reignite inflation
- Two courts just blocked parts of Biden's SAVE student loan repayment plan. Here's what to know.
- California researchers discover mysterious, gelatinous new sea slug
- Ulta’s Summer Beauty Sale Is Here—Score Redken, Estée Lauder, Sun Bum & More Beauty Faves up to 45% Off
Ranking
- Wall Street makes wagers on the likely winners and losers in a second Trump term
- Tori Spelling Reveals She Once Got a Boob Job at a Local Strip Mall
- 'The Notebook' actress Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer's disease, son says
- Alec Baldwin attorneys say FBI testing damaged gun that killed cinematographer; claim evidence destroyed
- Georgia remains part of College Football Playoff bracket projection despite loss
- The 2024 Denim Trends That You'll Want to Style All Year Long (and They Fit like a Jean Dream)
- To understand Lane Kiffin's rise at Mississippi, you have to follow along with Taylor Swift
- Illinois man accused in mass shooting at Fourth of July parade expected to change not-guilty plea
Recommendation
-
As the transition unfolds, Trump eyes one of his favorite targets: US intelligence
-
Biden and Trump are set to debate. Here’s what their past performances looked like
-
Walmart's Fourth of July Sale Includes Up to 81% Off Home Essentials From Shark, Roku, Waterpik & More
-
Athing Mu, reigning 800-meter gold medalist, will miss Paris Olympics after falling during U.S. trials
-
Incredible animal moments: Watch farmer miraculously revive ailing chick, doctor saves shelter dogs
-
Totally Cool recalls over 60 ice cream products because they could contain listeria
-
Where Todd Chrisley's Appeal Stands After Julie's Overturned Prison Sentence
-
Kyle Richards Shares Her Top Beauty Products, Real Housewives Essentials, Prime Day Deals & More