RENO, Nev. – One morning last month, Carl-Ann Burgess did something unremarkable: She stopped briefly at a coffee shop on her way to work.

For Burgess, the top elections official in the northern Nevada county, such trips could be precarious. While waiting for hot tea and a breakfast sandwich, an old woman approached.

“He told me I should be ashamed of myself, that I was a disgrace, an embarrassment to Washoe County, and that I should go down a hole and die,” Burgess said in an interview with The Associated Press. the next day.

There would be no more morning breaks at the coffee shop. It adds to the growing list of things Burgess no longer does because of his job. He had already stopped shopping for food and other essentials. Meals were eaten at home. If she and her husband ate out or went shopping, they would travel an hour away from their Reno neighborhood.

“I go to work, I go home and I go to church; that’s it,” Burgess said. “I’m very careful about where I go now.”

Still, Burgess said he is looking forward to November and will be leading the presidential election with his team in Nevada’s second most populous county. This ended when he was summoned to a meeting with district officials one day towards the end of September.

County Burgess said medical leave requested to cope with stress and described her departure as a personal matter. In a statement, the district said it was “focused on running a smooth and fair election.”

Burgess said it was forced out after refusing to comply with staffing changes requested by the county manager’s office. He said he repeatedly asked to stay, even providing a medical certificate and hiring a lawyer.

Burgess’ deputy is currently overseeing the office; He is the fifth person to run the county election operation in four years. The staff is all new since 2020. Staff turnover is one symptom of a politically divided district. election conspiracy theories Since Republican Donald Trump lost the state Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

In his first public statement since his sudden departure, Burgess told the AP last week that he was worried about his team and didn’t know what to do next. He even delayed voting, saying it was a reminder that he was no longer part of a process he loved.

“I was giving 110% of who I was, who I was, to this job. Then all of a sudden I walk out and I don’t understand,” Burgess said, contemplating his next steps. “I don’t understand how we got to this point.”

‘I had no idea what we were getting into’

AP journalists were in Reno in September, a week before his departure, and spent several days with Burgess, including time at the Washoe County elections office and at his home. As in these who before thatBurgess and his team were in a difficult situation, subjected to harsh criticism at public meetings and forced to respond. allegations based on conspiracy about voting machines, ballot boxes and voter rolls.

Dealing with elected county commissioners who do not trust elections has made the job even more difficult.

Burgess was an extreme example of the challenges facing local election officials in the United States following four years of false allegations that have eroded public confidence in elections and those who run them. Election workers face to face harassment and even death threats and this year we have taken additional security measures. bulletproof glass and panic buttons.

During the three days the AP spent with Burgess, he gave no indication that he planned to quit his job. He talked extensively about how he manages stress for himself, his family, and his employees.

“I never thought I would be where I am now, so front and center and home to this election, but I am grateful,” Burgess said, sitting in her living room and surrounded by inspirational passages from the Bible. and Christian symbols. “I am grateful for the opportunity. “I am grateful to be able to serve my country again.”

A decorative sign hung on the wall that read: “God doesn’t give us what we can handle, God helps us handle what is given to us.”

At home on Friday night, Burgess sat down to dinner with her husband and a close friend whom she considered an older brother. Her husband’s prayer during the meal included a request that Burgess and his team be kept safe.

“I had no idea what we were getting into, but I know it was something very important to Carl. “He loves his job,” said Shane Burgess after dinner was over. “Sometimes I want to join the fight, but I know he can take care of himself.”

Afterwards, Burgess and her husband discussed their weekend plans. Burgess wanted to take her husband, a baseball fan, to see Reno’s minor league team, the Aces, play before the season ended.

“Not if you’re going to get yelled at,” Shane Burgess told his wife as they sat side by side in matching seats.

Burgess tried to reassure her husband: “I can wear a hat.”

In the end they decided not to go.

‘I cannot serve my country’

The Washoe County election office is located in a complex of government buildings a few miles north of downtown Reno. Before he left, Burgess’ office was decorated with American flags, a copy of the U.S. Constitution and red, white and blue decorative stars spelling out freedom, liberty and America.

There was a sign in front of the office door that said “Election Heroes Work Here.”

He was the fourth person to lead Washoe County’s elections office since 2020 and was appointed interim voter registrar in January with a 3-2 vote by the county commission. Even though his entire office is new, Burgess said he was impressed with how well the staff performed despite all the pressures of working in a high-stress environment.

“I have a great team who all do their part and do their job brilliantly,” Burgess said.

Local election officials in various parts of the United States, exhausted by the harassment and demands of the job, retired or left the profession completely. Even Burgess stopped working on the election after being publicly harassed by people upset that Trump lost the 2020 election despite handily winning the Minnesota county where he was working at the time.

After that election, he moved to North Carolina and was working at a beachside ice cream shop, and while watching fireworks on the Fourth of July, he felt called to return to the polls.

“I can’t serve my country like this,” I thought. “As someone who came from elections and knowing the elections, I think I can come back to this job. I can choose again.”

‘The front line of democracy’

When Burgess arrived in Washoe County, where the Sierra Nevada transitions into the high desert, he found a county mired in conspiracy theories about voting.

County meetings are often dragged out by members of the public who oppose Burgess’s hiring and want the county to count votes because they don’t trust the voting equipment.

“It feels like you’re on the front lines, but it’s a different front line. “This is the front line of democracy, not the front line of war,” Burgess said. “But the way the country is divided right now, it feels like a war because you’re fighting some misinformation every day.”

Burgess said commission vote at the beginning of this year refuse to confirm Two recounts of state primaries demoralized the election bureau. He said two staff members then burst into tears. He said that there were no significant problems during the voting and that there were no errors during the counting of votes. As the commission came under increasing public pressure, it eventually relented and voted to approve.

When office assistant Shawna Johnson arrives each morning, she updates the whiteboard with the latest countdowns for early voting and Election Day, Nov. 5. These days were 28 days and 45 days respectively.

He also makes sure to add one more: “95 days until Christmas.”

“We know what our focus is, which is to get to early voting and then get to Election Day,” Johnson said. “But you have to look forward to what happens after all this. “We will be able to return to our normal lives, normal hours, being at home with our families, and holiday celebrations.”

A few days before his departure, Burgess brought in a counselor to train staff on how to handle stress. This included the importance of taking regular breaks, getting enough sleep, and creating a support network of friends and family.

“Realizing that I have been traumatized since 2020 and have post-traumatic stress disorder, I don’t want that to happen to my team,” Burgess said. “They deserve better. They deserve to know how to take care of themselves.

At one point, Burgess reminded his team to take some time off, as everyone would be working weekends starting the first week of October.

Privately, Burgess acknowledged that making time for his employees would likely mean more work for him. He expected to work 13 hours a day in the two months before the election.

“If they can’t be there, I need to be there,” Burgess said. “There is a lot to be done for the election”

‘It’s not like me to give up something I love’

Among the many things Burgess had to do was increase security at the election office.

Across the country, personal safety and security of election offices have become top concerns amid threats and harassment of election workers.

Shortly after Burgess said she was harassed at the cafe, she held a meeting to discuss security measures that should be implemented before the November election. Among the suggestions was placing a film over glass windows that could slow but not stop bullets.

“That’s when I realized I actually had a much more dangerous job than I expected. “It should never, ever happen this way,” Burgess said.

Burgess said he mostly kept those concerns to himself. He said he wants his team to focus on running a smooth and secure election. This included making sure poll workers were well trained.

On the day of the incident at the cafe, Burgess recalled closing his office door and turning off the lights after finishing work. He sat on the couch in his office and prayed for comfort and strength.

“I could go somewhere else that’s a lot easier,” Burgess said. “I can withdraw from the elections completely. I don’t have this. “It’s not like me to give up something I love.”

Less than a week later he left and said a decision had been made for him. And once again, Washoe County would hold someone else in charge of the election.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private organizations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about the EP’s democracy initiative Here. AP is solely responsible for all content.