In a new twist, less than two weeks before Election Day, Cari-Ann Burgess has told the Associated Press she feels like she “was absolutely forced out, but I have no idea how we got to this point,” she said of no longer being in charge of the voting process in Washoe County.
In a Sept. 27 statement, Washoe County spokeswoman Bethany Drysdale had previously said Burgess had “experienced stress issues and requested medical leave,” while a spokesman for the county election office has since reiterated several times that Burgess had requested leave.
Burgess, who only started in the position in January in an interim capacity, is reported to have hired a lawyer for possible legal action.
“Because the previous Friday and Monday, before I was put on leave, I was having high praises,” she was quoted as saying in the Associated Press report. “They were like, ‘You’re doing a great job, you‘ve got this, you’re the best person for this job because you brought this team together.’ And then all of a sudden, I was out on leave.”
The report said she had refused personnel changes being sought by the county manager’s office to assign election staff to another department and then had offered to step down and return to her prior position as deputy, but was told that was not possible.
Then it indicated Burgess felt she was forced to put a request for leave in writing despite wanting to stay onboard.
“I wanted to stay and help this team,” Burgess was quoted as saying. “They have done so much and have done such amazing things in the last year that — yeah, I wanted to be part of it. And I wanted to help them, and they told me no.”
Burgess said she tried to return to the position, even getting a doctor’s note saying she was fine to work, but says county officials refused and that her status would be discussed after this election cycle.
The Registrar of Voters office has been under constant turnover and leadership changes over the past several years, in Washoe County the key swing county in a swing state, with tensions surrounding elections continuously ramping up.
