An Arizona county elections director quit on Tuesday after accusing local officials of politicizing her department and embracing “irrational, extremist political party views.”
Geraldine Roll, the elections director for the state’s Pinal County, wrote a fiery resignation letter to County Manager Leo Lew saying she would leave her role after less than a year in the position. Pinal County, which sits between Pheonix and Tucson, is the Arizona’s third-most populous and has been plagued with issues over the past year.
“With no regrets, I quit,” Roll wrote in the email. “When you no longer respect those you work for, it is time to leave. I have watched as you idly stood by when I was attacked. I cannot work for an individual who does not support me.”
“It is a far reach to see how you will deliver clean elections when you bend to a faction of the Republican party,” she added. “Clearly, politics are the value this administration desires in a place where politics have no place: elections administration.”
Her departure was first reported by Azcentral. The publication notes all of Pinal County’s supervisors are Republicans.
The country has struggled with elections in recent years. Last July it sent out about 63,000 early ballots with errors on them before a primary and later ran out of ballots at many polling places on Election Day, Azrepublic reported.
Lew told The Hill he disagreed with Roll’s “assessment” in her resignation letter, but called her an “impactful public servant.”
“I want to thank Geri for her service during very challenging times and for the improvements that she identified and began to implement in the Elections Department,” he told the website in a statement.
Roll ended her letter with a terse sign-off: “Really, Not Respectfully.”