Amherst County supervisors approved the hiring of a full-time assistant registrar to help manage the current workload of the registrar’s office.
Supervisors unanimously backed appropriating $16,400 in the county’s upcoming 2018-’19 budget to support recurring costs associated with the hire last Tuesday. Registrar Francine Brown said she has requested the assistant position twice previously. Kenneth Branham, a member of the Amherst County Electoral Board, said the hire is needed and urged members of the Board of Supervisors to observe the work of the registrar’s office, which along with Brown has three part-time employees, in an election week. He said much goes into setting up polls and efficiently operating them.
“It’s more work than you can ever imagine,” Branham said. “It’s like a madhouse.”
Branham said each year it gets harder and harder for Brown to get the necessary work done without a full-time assistant. He said the $16,400 recurring line item in the budget is a “low price to pay” to ensure the electoral process is supported.
Supervisors agreed to hold off on funding an information technology position previously proposed in the budget plan until the following fiscal year to support the hire.