EC Elections Office adds new clerk position

ELLIS COUNTY – The Ellis County Elections office will be adding a new clerk position this month.

The Ellis County Commissioner’s Court voted to provide funding for the new position last week.

The idea for the new clerk position according to a press release is to strengthen election integrity measures. The new position will help the office manage the “increased employee workload caused by strengthened election integrity processes implemented during the 87th Texas Legislature,” the release stated.

Senate Bill 1, which passed in the 2021 Legislative Session created what Ellis County Judge Todd Little’s office called “fortified election integrity measures across the board, including new verification requirements for voter registrations and mail-in ballots.”

Recently too, Ellis County opted to utilize sequentially numbered ballots, which must be pre-printed before every election.

“We strive to respect the taxpayer dollar in Ellis County,” said Little, “but if there is one thing, we can justify spending on, it would be election integrity.

“That was the reason behind our decision to pay for sequentially numbered ballots, and that is the reason we must also provide Elections with the staffing they need to accommodate the requirements we put in place.”

Little’s office said that while these new requirements are intended to enhance election integrity, it also greatly increases the time required for election workers to process voter and ballot data.

Elections Administrator Jana Onyon recently presented a request for an additional Clerk III position to the Commissioners due to the number of new voters brought about by Ellis County’s expanding population and the increased workload, which has reportedly strained the Elections Office.

The Commissioners agreed to fund the position with a transfer of $25,900.42 for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022. Moving forward, the new position will be incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2023 budget with a fully funded salary of $62,161.