A county in Indiana is hiring another elections supervisor hoping he’ll stay – Chicago Tribune

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A county in Indiana lost a top elections official nearly every other month last year after a longtime auditor resigned due to a counting error in the November 2022 count.

Voting advocates hope fears of a tough election year will ease as Monroe County appoints a supervisor who is committed to staying. The county clerk appointed a 24-year-old election office aide to the top job on Feb. 12, just 12 weeks before the May 7 primary elections to choose candidates for Indiana’s U.S. Senate, governor and president.

“Given the national mood, public confidence in this election will likely be tested,” the League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County said in a January letter, urging county officials to quickly fill the role.

Voting rights advocates and local party chairmen say enormous responsibilities and relatively low wages make it difficult to retain new hires in Monroe. The county, home to Indiana University, is a Democratic island in predominantly Republican Indiana.

Increased scrutiny of the election and threats against election workers have led to waves of retirements and resignations at local election offices across the country since former President Donald Trump led efforts to object to the 2020 vote counts. The loss of institutional knowledge amid multiple changes in voting laws makes 2024 a challenging election year.

“Not having someone who is experienced in doing this, who is familiar with our district and how things have been done in the past, makes it more difficult for the people who have to do the job,” said Bloomington-Monroe League spokeswoman Debora Shaw. Caucus of Women Voters.

The change in Monroe began in early 2023, when Karen Wheeler, the manager since 2017, resigned after pressure from mostly fellow Republicans over an error in vote counting in the 2022 general election. Approximately 6,600 ballots were not added until the next morning, after unofficial results were sent to the Secretary of State.

Wheeler, 67, told The Associated Press that early voting results were kept on a digital storage device and added to the unofficial count at 9 a.m. Wednesday. He said he took the blame and resigned to avoid being fired by the Democratic county clerk but stood by his staff’s performance.

“Some people are always skeptical of elections, but people who know who we are have a lot of confidence in us,” Wheeler said.

County clerk Nicole Browne did not respond to AP phone and email messages seeking comment.

Wheeler said an election training specialist hired before his resignation was groomed by the county to replace him, but left a few weeks after Wheeler left. Three more people later filled the job for short periods of time; one only stayed for a month.

Wheeler said he both loved and hated the job. He oversaw eight elections and supervised more than 80 workers during early voting and more than 300 each Election Day. Wheeler described his role as being a liaison between candidates, media, vendors, government and the public. The election supervisor also writes special ballot papers for each region.

“This is an extremely difficult job,” Wheeler said. “And in Monroe County, the pay was pretty low” — about $37,000 for year-round full-time work.

The latest hires’ starting pay was increased to $55,674, according to a job posting in the county.

Liz Howard, an elections expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, said elections are increasingly complex, the laws governing them change regularly and high staff turnover means officials stepping into these roles are less likely to be aware of resources that could help them.

In Indiana, for example, a bill proposed this year would add a proof of residence requirement for voters registering in person for the first time.

“Many people don’t realize the complexity and all the work that goes into making this process so easy for voters,” Howard said.

None of the Monroe officials reported being threatened, but such incidents are rapidly increasing across the country. Indiana lawmakers may join other states in increasing criminal penalties for those who threaten election workers, and the Justice Department has created a working group to address the threats.

Monroe’s party chairmen, Democrat David Henry and Republican Taylor Bryant, praised Wheeler and lamented office turnover following his departure.

“That institutional memory is really hard to change and replicate in a short period of time,” Henry said.

Shaw, who has worked with the newly appointed manager before, said he was pleased that Kylie Moreland was reliable and experienced, but there was always the possibility that the presidential election would not go smoothly.

“It would be a terrible job if you got locked up,” Wheeler said.

Moreland developed a passion for election law and process last fall and wants to build a lifelong career “at the polls center.” Even though he doesn’t have many years of experience, he said he feels well prepared after working in the November election and has support from the Indiana Division of Elections.

Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales announced this year that more than 60 counties will share $2 million in federal funding for election security and other projects. Monroe County is not among them. His office said additional funding opportunities are being discussed.

Wheeler currently works for the county parks and recreation department and volunteers to provide voter registration training.

“I have a much easier job and I get paid the same,” he said.