Washington County elections admin dismissed

WASHINGTON - Washington County officials say the local government’s elections administrator resigned in lieu of termination Dec. 5, although the former employee did not sign paperwork confirming the reasons for her departure.

A reprimand form obtained by The Union said Liz Torres-Potter faced issues with timeliness, and that she wasn’t always in the office during regular business hours leading up to the Nov. 5 General Election.

The form later said “several elections processes” weren’t completed ahead of that date, saying county officials got word of issues from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office in early December.

“These are items that were her responsibility as elections administrator,” the form said. “She had also been asked repeatedly for election information by members of the Board of Supervisors and office deputies which she declined to provide. This information was later found to be readily available.”

The week after her resignation, the reprimand document said election officials “became aware of several job duties that had not been completed,” including Board of Supervisors meeting minutes publications, and verification of Election Day results which “should have been done prior to canvas.” Officials said there were also “many data entry errors needing corrections before work could be completed.”

As of Dec. 12, the county auditor’s office was “still receiving emails” about past-due “information and reports” from the Secretary of State’s Office, according to the reprimand form.

Asked about what specific election information, processes and past-due reports the document referred to, Washington County HR Director Amber Armbruster said officials didn’t “have any further information to provide.”

The Union filed a public records request Dec. 24 for emails and other communications among government officials about the unspecified elections issues mentioned in the reprimand form. County Auditor-elect Tammy Stewart said she expected her office to have a formal response to the request prepared sometime the following week, after other officials returned from holiday vacations.

Torres-Potter declined to comment on her departure, over two years after her start as the county’s elections administrator in September of 2022.

Her resignation came exactly one month after a hectic Election Day Nov. 5, which saw Washington County’s results published online 16 hours after polls closed, making it one of the last counties in the state to post its unofficial vote counts.

The auditor’s office said it faced “scanner issues” with absentee votes on Election Day, and at least one voter in Ainsworth received an incorrect ballot, allowing them to vote on a bond issue for a school district they didn’t live in. The mishap led to a petition challenging the election’s outcome, which is expected to go to a trial sometime in the next month.

It’s not clear whether the problems mentioned in the reprimand form were related to any of those issues, however, or to other previously undisclosed mishaps with the county’s vote tabulation in November.

The county posted a job opening for its next elections administrator Dec. 9. The position is charged with a handful of important duties leading up to and following elections, including verification of candidates’ paperwork, maintaining databases of absentee ballot requests, and reporting results to news media, according to a job description provided by Washington County. It also handles several lower-profile matters, like manure management applications and proofreading minutes from county board meetings before their publication.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com