Sunday, June 06, 2010
The registrar's office needs a change
Christian Trejbal
Recent columns
- Montgomery schools' $6.2 million deficit
- This column does not compute
- Make political parties pay for their primaries
- Tough times ahead for schools
From the RoundTable blog
Too many public officials forget the public. They embrace secrecy, grow arrogant or lack integrity. Journalists hate to work with them, and citizens have little chance of getting help from them.
Then there are public officials like Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz. He cares passionately about elections. He quickly answers questions and delivers public records. He wants to serve the public. I have enjoyed many conversations with him about the nuances of election law.
All of which makes writing the rest of this column difficult. I will probably lose, if not a friend, at least a friendly relationship with someone I respect.
I no longer have faith in Wertz's office. He, his staff and the the three-member county electoral board, which is ultimately responsible for the integrity of elections and hiring the registrar, have made too many mistakes.
The registrar is a referee for democracy. He ensures all candidates follow the rules and every vote is counted. His office creates the neutral electoral playing field where democracy flourishes.
Montgomery County's field has been strewn with rocks lately.
Last fall, the registrar's office was late mailing out absentee ballots. Then, on Election Night, it temporarily declared the wrong winner in one race and a spreadsheet error delayed results in another.
This spring, Wertz's team let dozens of invalid signatures slip by on candidate petitions in Christiansburg. One candidate almost was disqualified as a result.
When making copies of signature sheets for citizens investigating these problems, the office did not fully black out Social Security numbers, as the law requires. I have more than enough information to steal a couple of candidates' identities.
Another citizen combed through Christiansburg's candidate petitions and found even more mistakes that she reported to the State Board of Elections.
Candidates must have their petition sheets notarized before submitting them, and the stamp must be photographically reproducible. The petition form clearly notes the requirement. Yet several candidates did not comply. The registrar counted the signatures on those sheets anyway.
One candidate submitted only the back sides of the two-sided petitions. There is no way to verify if voters knew what they were signing because the important information is all on the front. That also did not trouble the registrar's office.
The county electoral board sent a formal response to the State Board of Elections, but its explanations and excuses were inadequate.
On the question of notary seals, the board pointed out that many seals are available, some of which are not photographically reproducible. It accepts them all. In other words, it ignores state law.
On the question of incomplete forms, the board did not even defend accepting them. It just shifted the blame onto the candidate.
There were other problems and other finger-pointing.
If legal requirements mean anything and the signatures should never have been counted, Christiansburg residents could find they elected council members and a mayor who should not even have been on the ballot.
Each of these incidents alone was minor, but taken together they reveal a disturbing pattern of mistakes and willful disregard for the rules. If the electoral board, the registrar and his staff cannot get the little things right, what reason is there to think they are getting the big ones right?
After all the problems with the November election, the electoral board, the registrar and his staff knew that their credibility with voters was on the line, yet they failed again in the spring.
Voters deserve better. They deserve electoral referees they can trust to enforce laws and procedures equitably and accurately. Wertz is one of the nicest people in local government, but being nice is not enough when it is time to run an election.
Unfortunately, the State Board of Elections has little power to intervene. Only the local electoral board can effectively change things at the registrar's office and among its own membership.
In two weeks, I will look at the electoral board, how its members are chosen, and whom they really serve.
