The Cochise County Board of Supervisors will hold a ballot for new election officials on Tuesday. The appointment was made by the Cochise County Recorder, who is in charge of the Electoral Division on an interim basis.
Cochise County Recorder David Stevens appointed Bob Bartelsmeyer to the position of election administrator.
Of the three applicants, Stevens said Bartelsmeyer was the only one with experience.
“Three people applied and he was the only one with no experience,” Stevens told AZPM on Monday. “He spent his 20 years as an elected official. So he understands the politics of being elected. His wife is a former member of Congress from Missouri. and it fits very snugly.”
Bartelsmeyer is an elections officer for La Paz County, Arizona, and was hired last April. According to the minutes of his April 4, 2022 meeting of the La Paz County Board of Supervisors, his annual income was $63,773.40.
Prior to that, he was an election administrator for Doña Ana County, New Mexico. He also served as Missouri’s Lawrence County Clerk for over 20 years. Parker Pioneer Newspaper.
Stevens added that Bartelsmeyer has also worked with Election Systems & Software (ES&S) in previous roles.
“He came and said, ‘We use ES&S,’ and toured the place. They use ES&S,” Stevens said. “So it’s all the same thing, so he knows very well. It will take a long time and eventually bring people in from out of state.”
Mr. Stevens said Bartelsmeier’s first election would take place in next March’s presidential election unless special district elections are called in November.
Stevens, as interim elections officer, also confirmed that the county’s May 16 special election will be held in the prison district.
“He (Bartelsmeyer) can’t start until May 30,” Stevens said. “He had other obligations all May. So it’s still me.”
albuquerque journal [https://www.abqjournal.com/15265/dona-ana-county-election-supervisor-named-to-national-board.html] reported in 2009 that Bartelsmeyer had been selected by then-New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Standards Committee.
Bartelsmeier’s wife, Linda Bartelsmeyer, is a former Republican congressman. Missouri House of Representatives.
