ROSS TO THE RESCUE! 17K ballots left to count
VIA SBINSIDER| EXCLUSIVE August 4th
Copyright © SBINSIDER.ORG 2022
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UPDATE AUGUST 5th, 3PM
Sources at the elections department report that a “huge data dump” will occur at 7PM tonight (Friday) and that another 17K ballots are left to counted, possible affecting several legislative races still not called.
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Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Pinal County, rocked by extreme problems in the primary elections, has announced today the following:
- The firing of current elections director David Frisk
- Virginia Ross, current Recorder, will resign and take over elections as a contractor through November
- Dana Lewis, will be appointed by the Board of Supervisors as the new Recorder and sworn in Friday
- A former Pinal County election office top manager will be hired as Ross’ assistant from the private sector
Ross, elected in 2012 as Recorder, ran the elections department for 8 cycles flawlessly. She managed Elections from 2013 thru the 2016 Election cycle. And, Ross oversaw the rebuilding of the Elections Dept. after the 2014 fire consumed all the elections equipment only 40 days before the mid-term Elections.
As the county grew in population, Ross told the Board of Supervisors that the job required a separate elections director. Ross subsequently hired Michele Forney. At the point where Ross was certain that Forney was in command, Ross declined to renew her own contract with the Board of Supervisors and Forney then reported to the County Manager and the Board of Supervisors. Forney left after the 2020 elections to take a job in another state. Frisk, who came from Washington State last spring, was hired by the County Board of Supervisors.
Ross has a solid record of academic and private sector achievement. She holds an MBA from the University of Miami, and she worked for IBM as a top level project manager among other Fortune 50 companies. She is also a certified election officer.
“Virginia Ross and I came into office at the same time and I was always impressed with her competence, commitment to the job and laser focus on getting every detail right. Pinal County is fortunate she is taking on this monumental job and I am confident she will get it fixed, “said Pinal County Assessor Douglas Wolf upon hearing the news.
Other officials were also relieved to hear the news, as the black mark on the county has made national news. Ross has a tight window of time to make changes as early ballots are scheduled to mail in a few weeks.
Ross said “I will be living at the Coolidge election office day and night for the next four months but I relish the challenge. “
Dana Lewis has previous elections office experience and is currently employed in the Pinal County Recorder’s office.
The general election is scheduled for November 9th and Arizona has a national focus as Senator Mark Kelly is being challenged by Blake Masters, which could determine the balance of power in the Senate.
This report was developed from sources inside Pinal County Management and other elected officials exclusively for SBINSIDER.ORG
