No published number of eggs smeared the faces of Pinal County election officials after admitting even a “huge failure” in the August primary.

Anyway, there wouldn’t have been much faith in the count, not after performances like Laurel and Hardy.

Some precincts opened their doors an hour or two late on Election Day. More than 20 polling places have run out of ballots. Many voters said he could only cast 20 ballots an hour.He waited hours for more ballots to be printed on two old machines. Then in Arizona he had to be trucked to the polling place in the third largest county.

Some people in line gave up and walked away without voting.

This came after over 63,000 mailed early ballots omitted local races, including Maricopa. Election officials scrambled to get additional ballots for the missing precincts.

Polls say many are inadequately trained and ill-prepared for the job after participating in the first elections.

Jeffrey McClure, Chairman of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, said:

Unfortunately, the supervisors voted unanimously to reimburse the city over $100,000 in expenses for the elections the county was contracted to run.

The general election is tomorrow.

So can Pinal County voters expect a competent election? Here’s what the county did to restore voter confidence in the process.

• Brad Nelson, former Pima and Mojave county election administrator, was asked by Pinal’s supervisors to conduct an investigative review of the county’s performance in the August primary election. His report shows that the county’s reorganized elections office is now on the right track.
• County elections officer David Frisk and his staff were fired days after the election and were replaced by reporter Virginia Ross, who previously covered the election in Pinal County.
• Dana Lewis, trained by Ross, stepped into the recorder position. Their communication and friendliness are essential to improving elections, Lewis says.
• Enhanced staffing, resources, and training of polling place workers. He has nearly 1,000 election workers at 97 polling places across the county. Despite the negative publicity, Ross has experienced positive reactions from people wanting to join his team and improve results.

McClure understands that the state is closely monitoring Pinal County.

“Going further,” McClure said in acknowledgment of national coverage of the August catastrophe.

For those still doubting whether Pinal can run a competent election, McClure said: It shows that we have changed a lot. ”

Nelson found no crime or fraud, but he found gross incompetence.

“Our problem is growth,” said McClure. “When Virginia was the record-keeper in 2012, it had about 70,000 voters, compared to 257,000 voters today. , needs have changed and now we need to strengthen it and it is being taken care of. .”

Can Ross help?
In August, Ross was persuaded to quit his elected job as county registrar after 12 years as head of the elections division, which handled duties such as polling stations and ballot counting.

“When they looked around, I didn’t see anyone with a lot of election experience or even a qualified elections officer who could step up, so I thought it was important enough to think about and move forward. “We decided that Pinal County deserved to have credible elections without a hitch.”

Ross, who will retire at the end of the year, was confident that he would be given the resources he needed.

“We were able to hire the people we wanted,” she said. “It’s important to know their work ethic and trust them. Some of them worked for me in the recording office.”

Among the staff Ross added is Geraldine Rolle, a county attorney’s office member with experience in the elections department.

“I had to think, can it be done?” Ross said. “I told them I could do the job, but it would take a lot of people and resources to get this done. ) have no election experience.”

As Registrar, Ross ran the election for five years without major problems, after which the county took over the role from the Registrar and established a separate elections office in 2017.

The county, accused of mismanaging the last election, gave Ross a four-month contract for $175,000 and a $25,000 bonus if the election went smoothly. We upheld our commitment to improvement.

To get the bonus, Ross must correctly and properly format enough ballots and deliver them to the precincts. Open polling places on time with properly trained workers and operate equipment that has passed tests of logic and accuracy. Make reports as required by law. Coordinate with City and Town Clerks in all jurisdictions. The Supervisory Board approves or examines the election results.

“We took the polling place manual and essentially rewrote it,” Ross said. “We had a few rehearsals and then spoke with poll workers. We are getting very positive feedback from all of our training classes.

Lewis succeeded Ross as record keeper, handling voter rolls and mail-in ballots. He is a retired Air Force Staff Sergeant and state elections official.

“One of the big things right now is the relationship between the Elections Office and the Registrar,” said Lewis. “Virginia and I have a great relationship. We talk every day. We can improve our workflows and processes. Communication is key. We will do our best to communicate any concerns or hurdles we have identified from our registrar’s office and ensure that sufficient staff are on hand to ensure that we have the necessary resources to carry out the duties. bottom.

“I think we will be more effective heading into the general election.”

Ross’ reorganized division now has 11 staff.

So far, so good. Early voting took place on time and no major issues were reported. Mock elections held at four standard polling stations recently went well. Procedures are in place for multiple eye checks to certify the completeness and accuracy of early voting.

“Of course, when you have 1,000 poll workers, there are a lot of small details,” says Ross. “But I’m a detail oriented person and I try to do everything as thoroughly as possible every day, all day.

“I told the board that I am not a miracle worker, but I am a hard worker. I will do everything in my power to prove that I can do it.”

After the nationwide scrutiny of August’s disaster, Pinal officials know they are under intense pressure to rectify this disaster. Reporters from every major news organization in the country are in Arizona monitoring Pinal County.

While the finger was pointed at Frisk, county managers and oversight boards also need to be scrutinized, county attorney Kent Volkmer told the commission. and has been criticized for depriving the elections office of sufficient manpower and resources.

Frisk, who has only been with the state for five months and has only two staff members, did not follow Arizona’s voting order rules. Ross said he was 110% complete on November orders.

“I have confidence in the process this time, yes, thanks to the people Virginia put in place,” McClure said. “It’s like a play. We rehearse not once, but three, four, five, even six. Same thing here. I’m going to make sure that what we’re training to do and that the process is being followed, but I don’t think it was last time.”

Lewis reminds voters that this is a two-card vote, and that there is a problem with the front and back of both cards.

“I think this team has it. I think it’s working,” Lewis said. “I never thought about what happened in the primary. Get educated, get involved in our county and our process, put the right people in the right place and have a great election. There is reason to hope for success when you have a formidable team that only wants to achieve.

“They don’t understand the task at hand in uncertain terms and are trying to execute it as accurately as they can hope.”

This content is in Maricopa magazine.