There was a shake-up among St. Joseph County election supervisors Friday, raising questions that might be clarified Monday.
Democratic leaders told WVPE that Republican County Clerk Amy Rolfes on Thursday fired both the Democratic and Republican supervisors of the county’s 20-member Absentee Board. It was unclear why Rolfes fired them. WVPE was not able to immediately reach her for comment.
But it turned out that under Indiana election law, Rolfes doesn’t have the power to fire them, said Chuck Leone, the Democratic representative on the county’s three-member Election Board. So at an emergency meeting Friday, the Election Board reinstated the two women, and the Republican supervisor agreed to be transferred to the Mishawaka office.
The board is collecting more information on Rolfe’s allegations against the Democratic member. Leone said the board should learn more at their regular meeting Monday.
“What the Election Board wants to accomplish is to make sure that the elections are run openly, fairly, honestly, impartially, in a nonpolitical way, and to be able to convey that to the public,” Leone said. “We don’t want any doubt in terms of what’s going on. In order to ensure that sometimes we have to make some changes.”
Calling it a “personnel matter,” Leone declined to say what Rolfes has accused them of. WVPE is not publishing the supervisor’s names until more is known.
The news comes less than three weeks from the Nov. 7 General Election.
