Pima County hires new elections director

Pima County has hired a new elections director as it plans to revamp the way elections are conducted this year.

Constance Hargrove will head the department charged with conducting federal, state and county elections in the region beginning in April, acting County Administrator Jen Lesher announced in a memo Monday. Her salary will be $147,000 a year.

Hargrove previously served as the elections director of Chesterfield County, Virginia, an area southwest of Richmond with a population of about 350,000. She also worked for the city of Richmond for 16 years, leaving the department as the deputy general registrar.

Brad Nelson, the former director of Pima County’s elections department, retired in January after serving 20 years in the position. Mary Martinson, who has worked in the elections department since 1987, has served as interim director since Nelson’s retirement but announced her plans to retire in the spring.

While working in elections services in Richmond, Hargrove oversaw the implementation of electronic poll books in 2011, a venture the county plans to take this year.

The new elections director also implemented “several emergency reforms” in Chesterfield County during the onset of the pandemic in 2020 to reduce the risk of exposure for voters, according to a news release.

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“I am excited about the opportunity to serve the citizens of Pima County. Although I have worked in elections for many years, I am still learning and growing,” Hargrove said in the news release. “I feel honored to grow with the county as it implements new technology and ways of voting that will enhance the voting experience and I look forward to working alongside the staff and county officials as we continue to provide safe, fair, and efficient elections.”

The Board of Supervisors approved the use of voting centers and e-poll books on Feb. 15, which will replace the paper rosters and series of logs and forms used to manually check in a voter. Now, elections department employees will check voters in on an iPad that will print off a ballot specific to their precinct while voters can show up at any voting center location to cast their ballot.

The Pima County Recorder’s Office expects to have both voting centers and e-poll books in use by the Aug. 2 primary election.

The county assembled a search committee of county elections officials to interview candidates, and Hargrove emerged as the top-ranked choice, according to the memo.

“I am deeply impressed with Ms. Hargrove and her experience and knowledge of modern elections systems, as well as her ability to adeptly manage elections expectations during these times of heightened scrutiny as to how elections are conducted in Arizona,” Lesher wrote in the memo. “I believe she will be an excellent Elections Director and a great addition to the County.”