After nearly two months back in California and back in the society of Election Officials, I have made many observations about the art and profession of administering elections. Most of these observations are not new but I am seeing them anew and from a slightly different perspective of a scholar and a returning “prodigal”. I know that after a few more months, I will probably re-assimilate and will lose the perspectives I presently enjoy. I am always struck and am somewhat in awe of the dedication and hard work of election staffs which are repeatedly demonstrated and which have become central features of a powerful professional culture. The ability, and even the willingness, to do more of the impossible with even less is the hallmark of dedicated election officials. Hard work, long hours and working weekends never discourage election officials; in fact, they are a badge of honor of sorts. As a result of the enormity of the work, the intense public scrutiny and the under-appreciation of their efforts, election officials celebrate their underdog status. It is understandable if, during this celebration of their resilience and ability to perform the impossible, a sense of fatalism, victimhood and martyrdom creep into the way the business of elections is conceived, planned and conducted.
As an election consultant and itinerant election official, I have spent time with nearly 60 county level election offices and have repeatedly observed that complexity, redundancy, bureaucracy and degrees of difficulty are relished and typify election administration. Suggestions which reduce the level of difficulty of the work an office performs are often perceived as shortcuts which promote laziness and lack the proper work ethic. Proposals to simplify and streamline election operations are seen as dangerous and irresponsible. Those who are captured by the predominant professional culture find safety and security in complexity and obfuscation. Needless to say, those making such suggestions and proposals are sometimes looked upon with suspicion and mistrust for their willingness to deconstruct bureaucratic rules and to interpret statutes permissively.
The danger of the culture of the profession is, if there is any, the propensity to be content with merely working hard at the expense of working smart. The danger is committing time and resources to activities for which there is no purpose other than to be busy. The rigid commitment to the “means” without a clear understanding of the ”ends” to be achieved can lead, perversely, to opposite and negative outcomes. When all rules, processes and operations are granted equal importance and status (i.e. got to do it all, everything is top priority), critical operations and processes are compromised . When everything is “top priority”, everything is also, by definition, the “last priority.”
Full Article: Reflections of a Prodigal Election Administrator | Election Administration Theories and Praxis.