RENO, Nev. (AP) — One morning last month, Carl-Ann Burgess did something completely out of the ordinary: 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 into a ditch 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.

“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 his departure as a personal matter. In the statement, it was stated that “the focus is on holding 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.

The person currently overseeing the office is Burgess’ deputy, the fifth person in four years to run the county’s election operation. 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.

“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.”

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 across the country following four years of false allegations that have eroded public confidence in elections and those who run them. Election workers across the country faced 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.

“I didn’t think I’d be where I am now, so front and center and home to this election, but I’m grateful,” Burgess said, sitting in her living room surrounded by inspirational Bibles. passages and Christian symbols. “I am grateful for the opportunity. “I am grateful to be able to serve my country again.”

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.

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 for a while after being publicly harassed by people who easily won Minnesota, which Trump lost in 2020.

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 extended by members of the public who oppose Burgess’s hiring and distrust 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.”

A few days before his departure, Burgess brought in a consultant to ensure staff were trained on how to manage stress. Among the many things on his to-do list were security improvements at the election office.

Suggestions included 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,” Burgess said. “It should never, ever happen like this.”

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