- Speaker #0
We're providing this opportunity for students to learn and grow and also being defenders of democracy.
- Speaker #1
You're listening to Beyond the Ballot AZ. I'm Tom Collins, Executive Director of the Arizona Clean Elections Commission.
- Speaker #2
And I'm Gina Roberts, Voter Education Director.
- Speaker #1
Election officials play a vital role in keeping our votes safe and secure. And as an election official myself, I've been able to participate in that firsthand.
- Speaker #2
participate very well. I think we've both been election officials for quite some time now. I think, what are we talking about, between the two of us, two decades, three decades? I don't want to age us though.
- Speaker #1
I also, I want to take a point of personal privilege here to congratulate Gina on receiving her certification with the Election Center in Auburn University as a SARA certified election administrator, which is a only, I think, 8% of election officials around the country have that. Congratulations, Gina.
- Speaker #2
Well, thank you for that. Actually, speaking of certifications, that ties in directly to what we're talking about today. How do election officials prepare for this field? So in the last few years, there's been a spotlight on the work that we do as election officials. And so we thought it'd be great to talk about it in our podcast here and talk about what is the state of Arizona doing to prepare and create our future workforce in the election administration field?
- Speaker #1
Yeah, you know, I think that people who are familiar with the election world know that there is a both a turnover issue and a pipeline issue with respect to election officials. But I think that folks who major interaction with elections is the day they vote or the day they mail their ballot don't know how much goes into putting together a successful election. Today, we're talking about what that work looks like and the impact it has on Arizona.
- Speaker #2
We are here with Dr. Sarah Renfray, Director and Professor of Public Administration from Northern Arizona University, where she oversees the newly created Elections Administration Certificate. Dr. Renfray, thanks so much for joining us here on Beyond the Ballot AZ.
- Speaker #0
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat with you this morning.
- Speaker #2
Fantastic. Well, let's start with the basics for our listeners. Can we talk about sort of how this certificate came to be? You know, what is it? that election officials do, what they're responsible for, and how will this program, this certificate, prepare them for that role?
- Speaker #0
So I guess a couple of things. You know, it was probably about a year ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop with just colleagues from our Secretary of State's office, Keely Varvel and Tonya Tunnell, and just talking about career pathways. And I think as a professor and Director of Public Administration, we're always trying to think about what career pathways can we fill to better serve our state. And so we were talking about, I've had some expertise in frontline elections administrators, and we thought, hey, why don't we do this great partnership? You know, the Secretary of State's office already rolled out this fantastic fellowship program where we deploy students from across the universities in our state into election offices. And we thought, what a really great way to think about putting together a suite of curriculum for classes. And then we deploy. deploy students in election offices. So we're kicking it off this fall. We're super excited. And we hope to launch this into a broader consortium with Arizona State and University Arizona. So stay tuned on that. But we really want folks to know the nuts and bolts of how to run an election, not running a campaign, but how to run an election. So really thinking about just the basics of election administration, the non-elected officials, so those folks that might be directors or staff or poll workers managing the everyday election operations from conducting ballot tabulation to training and overseeing election personnel and volunteers versus how you work with elected officials. So it might be a county recorder or clerk or secretary of state. And so we're just super excited to offer this because it's really unique that it's fully online. So that way we're accessible across the state and folks outside of the Arizona can take the curriculum. And then just deploying folks then at the end in a fellowship experience. So you really have that on the ground perspective. You have the education behind it and then understanding how elected officials and not elected really implement election law in our state.
- Speaker #2
So election integrity and the accuracy of the vote count, and lately in the news we've been seeing discussion on the security of mail-in voting. We know that that's been a big focus lately and it's very important to voters. So could you explain how really election officials create that safety for voters? Specifically, how is this program, this certificate, preparing future election administrators or even current ones on best practices in those areas?
- Speaker #0
I think one of the things that makes our program so unique is it's through the lens of public administration, really where the rubber meets the road. And we're cognizant that, you know, in 2024, we had an arson attack from one of our ballot drop boxes. There's a cybersecurity incident in June of this year for our candidate portal. And so ensuring that our students are well equipped to understand the nuances of election through our curriculum, but then also So our final... fellowship experience is so important. But I think one thing that's really exciting is just the workforce needs and trends that we have in our state. We've seen significant turnover just due to the hostile environment with elections right now. And I think it's really up to us as educators. It's my obligation to ensure that students are well-versed in how to run and implement elections, but also how do you deal with maybe work? issues. And we're really excited because the market analysis and data that we have in Arizona is that this is a really strong opportunity for students to learn new skills. And it cuts across disciplines. It's so exciting from maybe IT to public administration to cybersecurity and just thinking about all the different job skills that students need. And we're providing that for our workforce in the state. And it's incredibly important.
- Speaker #2
So I saw an article that talks about how election officials are leaving their jobs at the highest rate in decades. And I've experienced this and witnessed this firsthand being an election official here in Arizona. So with this program, are you seeing a lot of excitement and interest as it's kicking off? And how do you think it's going to really make an impact on the future workforce and pipeline of election officials?
- Speaker #0
I think this is a great opportunity for us to really demonstrate what election administration does. We launched this program in July and it filled within four weeks. And so I think that really shows the interest. We've been really mindful in ensuring that anyone can enroll in this certificate. If you have a bachelor's degree or a high school degree, we have pathways for an undergraduate or graduate level. And I think more importantly, this is an opportunity for the three state universities to work. together. And so that's something that we have in the works as a consortium down the road. But our students are so excited to learn. One student's really excited about the cybersecurity piece. Another student said, I had no idea that there is these job opportunities. And so students are so, so excited about getting new skills that are going to make them attractive for the future workforce in the state and being able to complete classes and do a fellowship. And I know the fellowship last time, a lot of those students already have jobs. And so I think it's really important for us in the 15 counties, as there is turnover, how can we ensure that students have those skills to maybe deal with some of the hostile work environment, but also be excited and bring that into the workplace.
- Speaker #2
On this show, we really like to connect what our listeners care about with the civic counterpart that makes that thing happen, what they care about happen. So can you talk about how is this program at the end of the day? How's it going to be better for voters? How's it going to be better for students? What's the impact it's going to have on Arizona?
- Speaker #0
I think the most powerful piece as a state employee myself at a public institution is giving back to your community and education is so powerful and ensuring that we're creating curriculum where students understand. the nuts and bolts of how to run an election is really important for free and fair elections in our state and beyond and engaging with our voters about that. So ensuring that someone of the Navajo Nation has access, that we provide ADA accessible elections for folks that might have a disability and just understanding the security side. And so just, I think that the state will be very excited. in terms of from the voter perspective, that we're providing this opportunity for students to learn and grow and also being defenders of democracy.
- Speaker #2
Well, Dr. Renfray, I want to thank you for joining Beyond the Ballot AZ. Thank you so much for the work that you're doing and that, you know, you are looking to ensure that our voters are well served in the future and that our future election administrators are developing the skills and the knowledge that they need to serve their state. So thanks so much for joining us.
- Speaker #0
Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
- Speaker #1
Learn more about this work by visiting our website. It's full of helpful information about civic engagement and the work we're doing to get people involved in the political system.
- Speaker #2
We have that linked in our show notes. And that's it for today's Beyond the Ballot AZ. I'm Gina Roberts.
- Speaker #1
And I'm Tom Collins. We'll see you next time.
