by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

The Hamilton County Voter Registration Board, a quasi-independent, two-member board consisting of one Republican and one Democrat, has been eliminated in order to bring the two members under the jurisdiction of the County Clerk, where all other election administration is handled. The registration board members were appointees of the two party chairmen and answered to them rather than any elected official.

County Commissioners voted Monday to do away with the board because all county employees need to be guided “by the same rules,” said Commissioner Steve Dillinger. “There has been no problem, it’s just the right way to operate, it was my idea and the other commissioners agreed,” he said.

The state legislature established voter registration boards in 2004. More recently the law was amended to allow counties to essentially opt out of the separate registration office. Some counties have abolished the boards while others continue to maintain them.

County Democratic Chairman Joe Weingarten is critical of the commissioners’ action, and said neither of the major political party chairmen were consulted. He worries that a Republican clerk would not now be required to have a Democrat involved in registration. Dillinger confirmed that the political leadership was not consulted, but said the action was not taken for political reasons. It is purely a personnel matter, he said.

Republican Chairwoman Laura Campbell confirmed she was not notified in advance, but believes the move “makes sense from a Human Resources point of view.” She said having the County Clerk “supervising a county employee is fine with me.”

County Clerk Tammy Baitz who now assumes supervisory authority over voter registration, said she did not suggest the action taken by commissioners. She has said there would be no changes in personnel or location of the registration office.

It is housed in the lower level of the Government and Judicial Center and processes all registrations, making sure voters are in the correct precinct and notifying voters of any change in their polling place. By law, the clerk is the chief election officer of the county.