RussLindenandSeanHolihan

RussLinden&Associates
336ParkwaySt.,Charlottesville,VA22902
www.russlinden.com;russlinden@earthlink.net

ReporttotheFairfaxCounty
ElectoralBoard:Management
StudyoftheOfficeofElections

Oct.15,2013
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ReporttotheFairfaxCountyElectoralBoard:Management
StudyoftheOfficeofElections

RussLindenandSeanHolihan,RussLinden&Associates
Oct.15,2013
ExecutiveSummary.
In July, 2013, the Fairfax County Electoral Board requested a study of the County Office of
Elections. The Board wanted to learn about the reasons for the high level of turnover in the
General Registrar's position, about Office communications (internally and externally), and
aboutoverallOfficeeffectiveness.
Our study, based primarily on 46 interviews with current and past Office staff, senior County
Managers,andmanagersinelectionsofficesoutsidetheCountywhohaveongoingcontactwith
theCounty'sGeneralRegistrar,resultedinthesefindingsandrecommendations:
KeyFindings:
1.TheOfficeofElectionsisstaffedbypeoplewhoarehighlyskilled,verydedicated,havedeep
knowledge of elections law and requirements, and demonstrate a strong commitment to
achievingtheOffice'smissioninaprofessionalandfairmanner.
2.ThemoraleintheOfficeiscurrentlyverylow.
3. There is a major need to significantly improve management of the Office, and to create a
cohesiveseniormanagementteam.
4. The lack of documented processes for certain key Office functions has caused major
problems,bothforvotersandforOfficestaff.
5.Thereisaneedtosignificantlyimprovecustomerservice,intermsofrespondingtorequests
for various applications in a timely way, showing respect for customers, and other related
activities.
6. Some staff have demonstrated a high level of confidence in their own expertise (which is
warranted), and a lower regard for the capabilities of several GR's who have led the Office
during the past decade. The result: a good deal of resistance by these staff to new general
registrars'initiativesatthestartoftheirtenure.
7.ThehighturnoverintheOffice'sGeneralRegistrar("GR")positionhasbeencausedprimarily
by 1) political interference from some previous Electoral Board members, 2) the inability of
some GRs to lead anelections office in acounty the size and complexity of Fairfax, and 3) the
resistancebysomestafftotheleadershipandchangesinitiatedbynewGRs.
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8. The lack of succession planning to replace older, experienced staff poses a considerable
problem,puttingtheOfficeatriskofamajor"braindrain"andlossofkeyknowledge.
MajorRecommendations(notlistedinanypriorityorder)
1. The Board should clarify its expectations of the GR and the staff, and should communicate
these expectations to the GR and staff. It should also establish ground rules for its own
involvementinOfficeoperations.
2.TheBoardSecretaryandGRshouldconductallstaffmeetingsonaregularbasistoimprove
communicationsandOfficeoperations.
3. Board members should stop accepting concerns that some staff have informally brought to
individualboardmembers.TheBoardshouldspelloutanacceptableprocessforstaffmembers
to bring concerns to the Board as a whole, if the staff's efforts to resolve an issue with their
managerand/orwiththeGRhavebeenunsuccessful.
4. The Board should ask the GR to develop and implement a plan for significantly improved
management of the Office. The Board should closely monitor the effectiveness of the
implementation.
5. The GR, with help from the Board Secretary or an executive coach, should work with the
seniorstafftocreateastrongandcohesiveseniormanagementteam.
6.TheBoardshouldconsiderthecreationofaCOOposition.
7. The Office should broaden its use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to improve
outreachtoandrelationshipswiththepublic,candidates,andcommittees.
8. The GR should consider a series of team building sessions with staff for the purpose of
improvingOfficeoperations.

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FairfaxCounty:TheContext
ThepopulationoftheCountyin2012was1,118,602,makingitthemostpopulous jurisdiction
in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.6% of Virginia's population. Fairfax is also the most
populous jurisdiction in the DC metro area, with 19.8% of the population. Fairfax has the
second highest median household income of any local jurisdiction in the United States
(neighboringLoudonCountyhasthehighest).TheCounty'spopulationisverydiverse;over37%
oftheresidentsarenonwhite,andthatpercentageisgrowingquickly.
The County has very active political parties, and voter participation is high. In the 2012
presidential election, 536,701 County residents voted, making up 80.5 % of active registered
voters.TheOfficeofElectionshandlesmultipleelectionseachyear.In2012alone,itmanaged
sixelections.
TheOfficeofElectionshashad6GeneralRegistrarsinthepast10years.Alargenumberofthe
seniorstaff,however,haveworkedintheOfficeforadecadeormore,andtheaverageageof
thestaffis61.
The number and nature of complaints concerning the Office's performance during the 2012
presidential election led to the creation of the BiPartisan Election Process Improvement
Commission,whichissueditsreporttotheFairfaxBoardofSupervisorsonMarch19,2013. In
July, 2013, the Electoral Board requested this management study to look at the Office's
management,communications,andmore(seebelow).

StudyObjectives:
TheElectoralBoardrequestedanassessmentandrecommendationsconcerning:
1. Overall effectiveness of Office communications with the public, through social media,
website,telephone,etc.,andwaystomoreeffectivelyusetechnologyinternallyandexternally
concerningtheentireelectionprocess.
2.ThelevelofstaffturnoverintheOffice(specifically,intheGeneralRegistrar'sposition),and
determineifthereareissuesrelatedtoturnoverthatneedtobeaddressed,and
3. Other management issues that affect the Office's ability to effectively achieve its mission,
including the role of the Electoral Board in supervising the General Registrar and in
communicatingwiththeCountyExecutiveandBoardofSupervisors.

Methodology:
We conducted 46 interviews of 31 people (several were interviewed more than once),
including:
12 current staff, 3 former staff, 3 former general registrars/fulltime Secretaries, 2 former
Fairfax BOS members (cochairs of the County's Bipartisan Election Process Improvement
Commission),5seniorFairfaxCountymanagerswhohaveongoinginteractionswiththeOffice,
3 external elections officials (2 GRs of large localities, and the Secretary of the State Board of
Elections),andall3currentmembersoftheCountyElectoralBoard.
WealsoreviewedsomedocumentsprovidedbyOfficestaff,relatingtoOfficeoperationsduring
the2012electionandotheroperationalmatters.

Interview questions (some of these questions weren't asked of people outside

theOfficeofElections):
1. WhatisthemissionoftheOffice?
2. WhataretheOfficesmostimportantservices?
3. Ona15scale(5isexcellent,1ispoor),assesseachoftheservicesnotedinquestion2.
4. Whatcontributestotheservicesthataregoingwell?
5. Fortheservicesyourated3orlower,howcouldtheOfficeimprovethem?
6. On a 15 scale, how do you assess the communications within the Office? Explain your
response.
7. On a 15 scale, assess the communications between the Office and key external
stakeholders.Explainyourresponse.
8. Overall,whataretheOfficesmajorstrengths?
9. Overall,whataretheOfficesmainshortcomings?
10. Otherobservations/recommendationsontheOfficesperformance?

Interview responses. NOTE: responses noted below were given by at least five
people,manyresponsesweregivenbytenormore:

Responses:
1.WhatisthemissionoftheOffice?
Responsestothisquestionvariedwidely.Themostcommonresponseswere:
Ensurethatalleligibleandinterestedpeoplearedulyregistered.
Ensurethatalleligiblevotershaveunfetteredaccesstotheballot.
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Run elections in a way that voters have confidence in the integrity and transparency of the
process.
Runelectionsinafair,accurateandlegalway.
2.WhataretheOfficesmostimportantservices?
Mostimportantservices:
Registration
Elections
Customerservice
Absenteeballots
Outreach/publiccommunications
Governmentfunctions(HR,budget,otheradministrativefunctions)
Support/guidancetocandidates
3.Ona15scale(5isexcellent,1ispoor),assesseachoftheservicesnotedinquestion2.
Registration 3.0
Elections 4.08
Customerservice 1.25
Absenteeballots 2.25
Outreach/publiccommunications 3.83
Governmentfunctions 1.8
Support/guidancetocandidates 4.0
4.Whatcontributestotheservicesthataregoingwell?
Welltrained,experiencedstaffwithgreatknowledgeofelections
Staffcommitmenttothemission;willingnesstodowhatever'sneeded(especiallyduring
electionseason)
Staffworkhardtobestrictlynonpartisan
5.Fortheservicesyourated3orlower,howcouldtheOfficeimprovethem?
Bettertraining
Hirequalifiedpeople
Improveinternalcommunications(bothtopdownandhorizontally)
Improvemanagementskillswithintheoffice
Integratethetwo"sides"(voterregistration,andelections)oftheoffice
Create,document,andfollowstandardprocessesforthecorefunctions
6.Ona15scale,howdoyouassessthecommunicationswithintheOffice?
2.0
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7. On a 15 scale, assess the communications between the Office and key external
stakeholders.
3.0
8.Overall,whataretheOfficesmajorstrengths?
Staffskills,knowledge,experience,commitment
Externalcommunications(butnotduringthe2012presidentialelections)
Managingverylargeandcomplexelectionswell
Resilience
9.Overall,whataretheOfficesmainshortcomings?
Some core processes don't exist, aren't documented, and/or aren't followed.
Examples: Lack of documented processes for tracking voter registration and absentee ballot
requestsin2012.
Poor planning for presidential elections. Examples: the inadequate planning for the
2012 presidential election led to late hiring and inadequate training of seasonal
employees. The poor planning also contributed to putting unqualified people into key
rolesforthatelection.
Low staff morale. Some outsiders who frequently interact with the Office report that
morale, which has often been low in the past, is lower now than they have seen it
before.
Concerns about the management of the Office. There are strong concerns that the
Officeneedsmajorimprovementsinhowitismanaged.
Poor customer service. Examples include: occasional rudeness/lack of respect to
customers;exceedinglylongwaittimes(uptoonehour)forpeoplecallinginduringtherunup
tothe2012presidentialelection;somestaffnotrespondingtovoicemessagesintheweeks
leadinguptothatelection.Manypeoplehaddifficultylearningwhentheirvoterregistration
orabsenteeballotapplicationwouldbeprocessed,andaboutnotreceivingabsenteeballotsin
timefortheelection.
Needforgreaterintegrationofthevoterregistrationandelectionssidesoftheoffice.
Examples: a lack of information sharing, staff in one side have difficulty accessing
informationfilesintheotherside.
Poor internal communications, both vertical and horizontal. This is a concern within
theOfficeandbetweentheElectoralBoardandOfficestaff.
Staffwhodon'tacceptleadershipofnewGRs.Somestaffmemberswelcomethenew
GRs,othershavenotbeenopentotheprioritiesandinitiativesofnewGRsoverthepast
decade.
Lack of succession planning. The average age of the staff is 61, many are eligible to
retire now, and there are major concerns about the amount of knowledge that will be
lostifnosuccessionplanningisdone.

10.Otherobservations/recommendationsontheOfficesperformance?

Managementchallenges:ItisveryimportanttoimprovetheoverallmanagementoftheOffice,
insuchareasas:seekingstaffinputondecisions;monitoringandfollowingthroughonchanges
aftertheyareinitiated;planningforupcomingelections,ITupgradesandotherchanges;time
management;makingefficientuseofstaffmeetings;andhonoringthechainofcommand.
Seniormanagementteam:Thereisaneedforthecreationofacohesiveseniormanagement
team,onethatisalignedaroundpriorities,processesandproceduresforrunningtheOffice.A
strongseniormanagementteamisalsoimportantinordertocommunicateclearand
consistentmessagestothestaffaboutoperations,changesaswellaspoliciesandprocedures.
Fillingkeypositionswithparttimepeople.TheOffice'skeymanagementpositionsshouldbe
filledbyexperienced,fulltimepeople(ratherthansplittingthesepositionsintoparttime
roles).
Needforaccountability.Thereneedstobemuchgreateraccountabilityforindividualandteam
performanceintheOffice(thisrelatestotechnical,managementandalsointerpersonalskills
andbehaviors).

Themesthatemergedfromtheinterviews
Skilled, dedicated staff. The Office has staff with great knowledge of election law and
procedures,whoareverycompetent,highlydedicated,arestraightdownthemiddle(don't
allowpartisanleaningstoaffecttheirwork).
Impact: These skills and knowledge have enabled the Office to handle most elections in a
competent manner, despite the high turnover in the GR's position. The staff members' skills,
knowledge and commitment have also helped maintain continuity of operations during the
frequentchangesintheGRposition.
Staffmoraleisverylow.Therearemanyreasons,somegobackyears:staffononesideofthe
Office report that they are generally paid at a higher level than those doing work of similar
complexity on the other side; there seems to be a divide between staff hired in the past year
andthosewithmuchlongerexperience;somepeoplehaveraisedseriousquestionsaboutthe
standards being used to hire new staff; a number of staff don't believe their experience and
expertisearebeingutilizedwhenmajordecisionsaremade;someseniormanagersarenoton
thesamepage.
Impact: The issues noted above create considerable anger and confusion among many staff.
Theresultinglowmoralehasanegativeimpactonstaffperformance.Itmayfuelthenegative
attitudesdisplayedbysomestafftowardcustomersandotherstaff.
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AneedforsignificantlyimprovedmanagementoftheOffice,andforacohesivemanagement
team.SeveraloftheseneedsarementionedinthefirstbulletunderQuestion10,onp.8.This
concernovertheOffice'smanagementisarecurringthemeoverthepastdecadeormore.Itis
heightenednowforavarietyofreasons.
Impact:AnumberofFairfaxresidentshavelostconfidenceintheOfficeofElections.Somestaff
seem to feel little accountability for their performance, given the lack of clear priorities and
processes, lack of performance standards, and inconsistent management oversight of their
performance. And it will be difficult to attract and retain quality staff in the future if the
perceivedmanagementproblemspersist.
Lack of documented processes for core functions, such as voter registration and absentee
ballotrequests.(examplesarenotedinthefirstbulletunderQuestion9,p.7).
Late or lack of planning/inadequate training prior to the 2012 presidential election. (see the
secondbulletunderQuestion9,p.7).
Impactofpoorplanningandlackofdocumentedprocesses:Somevoterregistrationapplicants
never received their voter card in 2012, some received two cards. Some residents seeking to
voteabsenteeweren'tabletovote(theyneverreceivedtheballot,oritcametoolate).Some
residents, including candidates for public office, have learned that the voter database has
incorrect information about their record of voting in the past (potentially embarrassing for
politicalcandidates).
Poorcustomerservice.ExamplesaredetailedinthefifthbulletunderQuestion9,p.7.
Impact: Some voters have received incorrect information, many have lost their confidence in
the Office's ability to run elections competently. And some staff are embarrassed that the
Office provides poor customer service and thus looses credibility in the eyes of some
customers.
Some staff have demonstrated a high level of confidence in their own expertise (which is
warranted), and a lower regard for the capabilities of several GR's who have led the Office
duringthepastdecade.It'simportanttoaddthatmanystaffdonotholdthisattitude,andtry
to support new GR's. Those who do maintain this attitude, however, seem to have a strong
influenceovertheOfficeclimate,makingitquitedifficultforGR'stomakeapositiveimpactin
theirinitialmonthsonthejob
Impact: The Office is complex, serves a huge and very diverse set of demanding customers,
receives a great deal of scrutiny, and is a challenge to manage and lead in the best of
circumstances.WhensomestaffresisttheleadershipofanewGR,itnegativelyimpactsmany
other Office staff. This dynamic has contributed to the turnover of GR's over the past decade
(seenextitem).
High turnover in the GR position, causing problems for staff, the Electoral Board, and other
external stakeholders. The Office has had six GRs in the past decade for several reasons. The
mostcommoncausesseemtobe:1)politicalinterferencefrompastmembersoftheElectoral
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Board;2)"cultureshock"experiencedbysomenewGRswhocamefromsmallerlocalitiesand
had difficulty adjusting to a County with: over 1 million people, very vigorous political parties
and high scrutiny from the Capitolarea media, policies and procedures more complex and
more consistently applied than they had experienced elsewhere; and 3) some staff who have
grown weary of working for a different GR every 20 months on average, have learned to
manage their functions with little or no management oversight, and have initially resisted the
leadershipandchangesofseveralGRs.
Impact:Thishasbecomeanegativecyclethatfeedsonitself.Severalstaffhavebecomemore
resistant to new leadership/changes as the "revolving door" of GRs continues. That has
contributed to communications issues between the Electoral Board and staff: some staff
developedindividualcommunicationschannelswithselectedBoardmemberswhenthosestaff
grew concerned about a GR's abilities, and when Board members welcome such staff
communications,itunderminestheGR'sposition.SomeBoardmemberswereseentobeoverly
involvedinOfficeissuesinthepast,sometimesinsertingtheirpoliticalviewsandinterestsinto
Officeoperations,whichalsounderminestheGR'spositionandtheOffice'scredibility.
The Board's and Office's credibility with the public has suffered from the dynamics described
above.Inaddition,thesedynamicshavehadmadeitharderforstaffandtheGRtodotheirjobs
well.
Lackof succession planning to replaceolder staff. This fact, plus theaverageageof the staff,
the large number of staff eligible to retire in the next few years, and the lack of documented
processes,posesamajorchallengeandthreattotheOffice.
Impact:Therewillbeamajorbraindrainifsuccessionplanningisnotinitiatedsoon,andagreat
dealofknowledgewill"walkoutthedoor"whenlongtermstaffretire.That,inturn,islikelyto
resultininefficiencies,worsecustomerservice,inaccurateinformationgiventothepublicwhile
newstafflearn,andpressuresonlongertermstafftohandletheworkofsomenewhires.

Some recommendations for addressing the major needs. NOTE: these are not
listedinanypriorityorder:
1. The Board should clarify its general expectations of the GR. It should also make its
expectationsclearconcerningimplementationoftheBipartisanElectionProcessImprovement
Commission's recommendations, and concerning this management study's recommendations.
TheBoardshouldalsocommunicateitsexpectationsoftheGRandofthestaff,tothestaff.And
theBoardshoulddevelopitsowngroundrulesdetailingwhatkindsofBoardinvolvementwith
Officestaffandoperationsareacceptable,andwhatarenotacceptable.
2. The Board Secretary and GR should conduct allstaff meetings on a regular basis (perhaps
quarterly), to discuss methods for improving operations and customer service, Board policies,
Board expectations of the staff, etc. The Board Secretary and GR should also use these
meetingstolistenandrespondtostaffquestions,suggestions,andconcerns.
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3. Board members should stop accepting concerns that some staff have informally brought to
individualboardmembers.TheBoardshouldspelloutanacceptableprocessforstaffmembers
to bring concerns to the Board as a whole, if the staff's efforts to resolve an issue with their
managerand/orwiththeGRhavebeenunsuccessful.
4. The Board should ask the GR to develop and implement a plan for significantly improved
management of the Office. The Board should closely monitor the effectiveness of the
implementation.
5.TheGR,withhelpfromtheBoardSecretaryoranexecutivecoach,shouldworkwithsenior
staff to create a strong and cohesive senior management team. Such a team is necessary for
theOfficetoachieveitsmissionatahighlevelofqualityandefficiency.
6.TheBoardshouldconsiderthecreationofaCOOposition,takingcertainadministrativeand
operationaldutiesofftheGR'splate.Forthistowork,theCOOmustbeaverystrongmanager
who knows or quickly learns election law and procedures, and has very good interpersonal
skills.Seniorstaffshouldhaveinputinselectingtheperson,andtheGRandCOOneedtobeon
thesamepageintermsofoperationalimprovementsandhowtoachievethem.
7. The Office should broaden its use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media to improve
outreachtoandrelationshipswiththepublic,candidates,andcommittees.Socialmediashould
beusedtoprovideapublicforumfortwowaycommunicationsonsuchtopicsas:
Voterprecinctinformation
Electionresults
ElectionDayreminders
Boardmeetingdates
Campaignfinancedeadlines
Pollinglocations
Voterregistrationdeadlines
Pollworkerinformation
ElectoralBoardannouncements
Otherinformationabouttheelectionprocess

8. The GR should consider a series of team building sessions with staff for the purpose of
developingaconcreteactionplantoimproveoperationsthattheBoardhelpstomonitor.