Expanding the Pipeline: Turnover, Diversity, and a Representative Local Election Official Bureaucracy

This chapter examines diversity in public service and the challenges of representation within U.S. election administration. History demonstrates how elected and election officials have used and abused their power to influence who can vote and how they vote, often disenfranchising members of marginalized groups. By examining representative bureaucracy in public agencies, we show the lasting impact of history on diversity in bureaucracies and public trust. Then, we turn our attention to election administrators. More specifically, we examine demographic and turnover trends in the field of election administration. Finally, this chapter recommends some ways to recruit the next generation of election officials and how to make our nation’s election administrators reflect the people they serve.