Oneida County Democratic leader supports Board of Elections reforms By Luke Perry
Bill Thickstun, Vice-Chair of the Oneida County Democratic Committee, recently expressed support for reforming how the county selects Board of Elections personnel and how the board works.
“I would certainly support any effort to professionalize these positions to make there be some type of certificate, educational requirement,” Thickstun said, “possibly even turning some of the positions at the Board of Elections into civil service jobs.”
“The problem,” Thickstun told Talk of the Town (WUTQ in Utica), “that’s not the system we have.” Being a party member and county resident are the only two current requirements per state election law.
Thickstun supports New York State requiring a test for election board members. There are currently no degrees or certificates for this line of work. As a result, “nearly all election workers learn on the job,” Thickstun said.
Photo by WKTV
Thickstun believes it was appropriate for both Oneida County election commissioners to resign in light of serious issues with the NY-22 election. Thickstun said “in an ordinary election none of these problems would come to light.” When the margin between two candidates becomes greater than the ballots left, like the NY-22 race in 2018, campaign observers and lawyers walk away.
Thickstun believes the positive from this historically close election is that it “flushed out a lot of issues and it’s going to give a roadmap to the new commissioners about what policies and procedures need to be addressed.”
County party chairs are instrumental in nominating election commissioners. Thickstun is currently focused on three considerations in vetting candidates: 1) that the successful candidate is “good at detailed work and dealing with the public;” 2) has “experience managing a staff effectively;” and 3) is “somebody who is committed to running fair elections.”
Thickstun acknowledged that “whenever this position comes open there is enormous pressure to hire someone who has done work for the party over the years.” Thickstun said that he and party chair Mitchell Ford have always tried their best to insulate themselves from these pressures and select the best candidate. Democrats are not currently considering any internal candidates that Thickstun would support for this position.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Political Science at Utica College
