New Jersey experiencing “30% turnover in elections officials.” Here’s why some are leaving.

UNION COUNTY, N.J. — A CBS News data investigation has found an increase in election supervisors leaving their jobs.

Since the last presidential election, 36% of top election officials, like county election commissioners, are new to the job. In the Tri-State Area, some election officials said they’re expecting retirements after all the ballots are counted in November.

The current situation in New Jersey  

It’s the busy season for Union County Board of Elections Administrator Nicole DiRado as she prepares the county for the elections. She also serves as recording secretary of the New Jersey Association of Election Officials and says she has noticed a trend.

“Our experience statewide is that we’ve also seen about 30% turnover in election officials,” DiRado said.

DiRado said a lot of that turnover happened right after the 2020 presidential election.

“There were a lot of mandates that were executive order and later codified into statute that put in additional responsibilities on our plates,” DiRado said.

The mandates were a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — a combination of an increase in voting by mail and extending the time you’re allowed to vote. While it may be beneficial to voters, it creates a lot more work for a limited staff. DiRado said for some people, it might just have become too much.

“The landscape has changed so dramatically. It’s not what it once was when I first started,” she said.

Parts of New York dealing with similar problem

That changing landscape is also having an effect across the New York state line in Rockland County.

“Yes, we actually do have an open spot right now. And we do predict that people, after a presidential election and after how busy it is and intense, it ends up getting that people do consider retiring,” Republican Elections Commissioner Patricia Giblin said.

Giblin says overseeing an election has gotten more difficult over the years due to changes in election laws.

“There have been almost 200 different election laws that have changed since 2019. So every time something changes, we have to change our process here,” Giblin said.

Giblin also points to the 2020 election as a turning point when she noticed mistrust grew.

“I saw that in 2020. when people were afraid to vote absentee or they were afraid to put it in a mailbox,” Giblin said.

And now there’s another worry added to the list.

“One thing we are concerned with is misinformation and disinformation and how outside influences can influence an election,” DiRado said.

Eddie Perez researches elections technology and administration. He said he’s worried about the turnover rate combined with mistrust.

“The departure of experienced officials creates vulnerability for how the public is going to perceive elections at exactly the same time that the information environment has been absolutely poisoned by a lot of baseless and unfounded claims,” Perez said.

Perez says experience matters when battling those perceptions.

“It’s only those real old guard experts that have had to be through the trenches and had to deal with the unanticipated. That’s also how they learn,” Perez said.

Bergen County using simple approach to keep officials  

Perez’s observations are why Bergen County’s election commissioners say they work so well together. Three of the six commissioners were appointed within the last three years and they’re learning from those who have been around for a while. The board is split with three Republicans and three Democrats. Although they’re from different political parties, there’s one aim.

“We don’t have that turnover here at all, primarily because it’s not an adversarial situation. We all believe that our job is to make sure everyone who is eligible to vote, that their vote gets counted,” said Bergen County Elections Commissioner John Schettino, a Democrat.

“I think it’s better because there’s a good relationship here. I can call Denise up or any of the other commissioners at any time or they can call me. We have a good relationship,” said Republican Richard Miller, the chairman of the Board of Elections.

Despite turnover in some counties, New Jersey elections commissioners say they’re ready for November.

“Our feeling here is that if we made it through 2020, we will make it through anything,” DiRado said. 

Christine Sloan

Christine Sloan is an Emmy Award-winning reporter, who covers New Jersey for CBS News New York. Sloan re-joined the station in January 2023. She also worked at CBS News New York from 2004 to 2016.