California sees significant election official turnover amid threats, misinformation

As counties across the state are in the final stages of designing and printing your November ballots, a CBS News California investigation found roughly half of California voters will have someone new to the job running their presidential election this year.

Experience matters for the chief county election officials, especially in this era of mistrust and misinformation where the job is increasingly complicated – and in some cases, dangerous. 

That’s something Nevada County Registrar of Voters Natalie Adona knows a bit about.

“I started having panic attacks,” Adona said, “and feeling like, unless I got hurt, no one could help me.”

During her 2022 campaign for registrar of voters, the political attack ads were the least of her concerns.

“I saw the impact that it had on my staff,” Adona said.

Even after her landslide victory, she faced calls for a recount.

Adona and her staff stuck it out, but she understands why others could not. 

“We’re all just doing our jobs here,” Adona said. “Some of my colleagues have found it necessary, in order to protect themselves and to protect their families, to retire earlier than they would have.”

She points to research from the Bipartisan Policy Center, which cites increasing hostility as one of the reasons for increasing turnover among election officials. 

It also points to an aging workforce that is naturally near retirement and the increasing complexity of administering elections, from technology to ever-changing election laws.

What’s the impact of election official turnover? 

Our CBS News analysis reveals, in 25 of California’s 58 counties, the person in charge will be running the presidential election there for the first time this year – impacting nearly half of California’s registered voters.

“Experience is super important because you have the opportunity to learn from what happened in a past election,” Adona said. “You’re also able to more quickly adjust.”

But while turnover has skyrocketed in California since the last presidential election cycle, looking back two decades, this level of turnover is not extraordinary. And not everyone new to the top job is inexperienced.

Bob Page is the new Orange County registrar of voters. He previously held the position in San Bernardino County.

“There’s actually a lot of things that are different,” Page said.

From the software to the equipment to voter preferences, he says elections vary significantly from county to county.

Page says a lot has changed since he started in 2018.

“I wasn’t getting a lot of questions from the press about how elections work. They just wanted to know who won and who lost. But that’s changed,” Page said.

“How much more consequential are minor human errors now than they were, say, five years ago?” CBS News California asked.

“I think we’re definitely much more under a microscope now,” Page said.

From running out of paper to power outages, election hiccups have always happened. But now they become headline news, so communication skills are key. 

Kristin Connelly is the new Contra Costa County elections chief.

“I’ll give you an example. A handful of voters we discovered got the wrong sample ballot,” Connelly said.

She came in without any election experience.

“I have to be public about that,” Connelly said. “And people appreciate it, you know, getting ahead of it.”

As others are leaving the job, she’s one of five new chief election officials in California who never worked in an election office before getting the top job. 

“Why did you want to do this?” CBS News California asked.

“I was pretty grumpy that we had had a couple of countywide election officials that had resigned in scandal,” Connelly said. “And I thought that I could bring some honor to this.”

Election worker safety 

The last elected registrar in Contra Costa County pleaded guilty to nine counts of election finance fraud related to his own campaign finances. 

“But the staff here are amazing,” Connelly said.

It’s a sentiment shared by all the registrars we spoke with. Staff often work long hours, face personal threats, and in some cases go weeks without a day off.

All the registrars also encourage voters with questions or concerns to reach out or come watch the process for themselves.

However, in the current climate, registrars are also focused on staff safety.

“The first thing I heard my first week on the job, the staff wanted a security guard,” Connelly said.

“We’ve added a metal detector,” Page said.

And back in Nevada County, Adona says the harassment and threats they lived through have better prepared them for whatever this year’s presidential election may bring.

“I think that we are closer as a staff. We are stronger,” Adona said. “We know that we have each other’s back.”