NPR

As 2020 Approaches, Some Experienced Election Officials Head To The Exits

A number of top election officials won't be around next year. Some are retiring after long careers, but others are feeling the strain of an increasingly demanding and politicized job.
A voter casting a ballot in Louisville, Ky. this month. Long-serving election officials around the country are retiring ahead of the 2020 election, which could be among the most challenging to administer in the country's history.

Between possible foreign interference, potentially record-high turnout, new voting equipment in many parts of the country and what could be a razor-close outcome, the 2020 election was already shaping up to be one of the most challenging elections to administer in U.S. history.

On top of those challenges, a number of top election officials who oversaw voting in 2016 won't be around next year. Some are retiring after long careers, but others are feeling the strain of an increasingly demanding and politicized job.

Among those who've left are former Virginia Election Commissioner, Edgardo Cortes, now an election security adviser with the Brennan Center for Justice. He decided

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