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Clerks report turnover and stress; Elections Division and lawmakers plan follow-up support
Summary
Legislators heard that municipal clerk turnover has risen, driven in part by increased workload, threats and public vitriol. The Elections Division described training, office hours and coordination with law enforcement and other agencies to support clerks.
Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert told the committee that municipal clerk turnover has been significant in recent years and that the job has become more stressful because clerks are the visible face of elections.
Hibbert said she heard a prior estimate that roughly one quarter of clerks had turned over in a prior year, and she said many clerks are retiring because the job’s stress has increased. "It’s fair to say that after the 2016 and 2020 election, rhetoric... has ramped up. And a lot of that is directed towards election officials," Hibbert said, describing threats and escalated contact as reasons some clerks choose to step down.
The Elections Division said it has increased trainings, offered office hours for clerks, coordinated with local, state and federal law enforcement on serious incidents, and participated in de-escalation and active-shooter trainings for poll workers. Committee members asked for more detailed turnover data statewide; Hibbert said the division would follow up with numbers and that she planned to bring additional agency leaders to future briefings about staff experiences and protections.
Committee members described municipal hiring difficulties and retirements concentrated in some counties; the office will provide committee-requested metrics on clerk turnover and retirements.
