Elections head in Nevada's lone swing county resigns, underscoring election turnover in key state
RENO, Nev. — The rapid turnover among Nevada election officials continued Tuesday, when the top election official in Nevada's only swing county abruptly announced her resignation less than a month before early voting for the Feb. 6 primary began.
Washoe County Registrar of Voters Jamie Rodriguez said in her resignation letter that she wanted to pursue opportunities outside of elections and spend more time with family ahead of a crucial 2024 election cycle.
Her last day is March 15, although she will use her accrued time before then.
Eleven of Nevada's 17 counties have experienced a turnover in top county election positions since the 2020 election, most of which occurred between 2020 and the 2022 midterm elections, according to an Associated Press count.
That already included Washoe County, whose former voter registrar, Deanna Spikula, resigned in June 2022 amid death threats and harassment.
The county had no additional comment on Rodriguez's departure other than forwarding Rodriguez's resignation letter, which was first reported by KRNV-TV in Reno.
Washoe County was the subject of a comprehensive election audit, which found that rapid turnover and understaffing within the office hindered the smooth election process, communication with county residents, and ballot development and preparation.
The county has since hired additional elections staff, 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 remain largely symbolic for Republicans, was on track and that there had not yet been many outside questions about the primary. had been.
“We are in a very good place,” she said last month. “The road to February 6 will be quite slippery.”
The resignations in the Western swing state since 2020 have been due to a confluence of factors, with some facing threats and intimidation over false claims about a stolen 2020 presidential election perpetrated by former President Donald Trump. Others resigned due to a lack of support from the state. And many struggled with drastic changes to Nevada voting processes that had to be implemented by their small county offices, including a universal mail-in voting system, in which mail-in ballots were sent to every registered voter.
It remains unclear whether these factors led to Rodriguez's resignation. She did not respond to a text message to her work phone requesting comment on her departure.
Resignations across Nevada had declined somewhat since the 2022 midterm elections. Rodriguez is the second county election official to resign in the past year.
Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, the state's top elections official, has focused on better retaining election officials across the state amid the attrition. During the last legislative session, he pushed new state laws that would make it a crime to harass or intimidate election officials while they are on the job, along with training courses and a manual that would streamline preparation for new officials taking on a leadership role in elections to get.
“We need to be ready and prepared to deal with the team-changing talent,” Aguilar testified before state lawmakers last March as he pushed for the manual.
His office had no immediate comment Tuesday on Rodriguez's departure.
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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