Reply #11: Elections Office Turmoil

[kpete]

Friday, March 31, 2006
Elections Office Turmoil
Winston-Salem Journal

With just a month to go before primary elections, the Forsyth County elections office is lacking in leadership in more ways than one. The board that oversees this crucial office has not provided optimum leadership, and that failure played a role in the loss of the longtime director of the office, and more recently, the loss of her deputy. The board needs to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that the primary elections run as smoothly as possible - especially since the county will be breaking in new voting machines in those elections.
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The board has appointed Terry Cox, a computer technician in the elections office, as the interim director. Cox has applied for the permanent position.

The board faces the primary elections with the new voting machines it insisted upon. Board members say they probably won't have a permanent director until after those elections. "We're certainly in a transition time, but I think the staff have got it nailed down pretty good," Elliott said.

The elections may well have their share of technical challenges for the elections staff. The machines will have to be installed and tested in time for the start of one-stop voting April 13.

To overcome those challenges, the board will have to provide better leadership than it has been providing in the last few months. And it will also need that leadership as it hires the new director. It's already let one good candidate, Gerardi-Dell, get away.

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