Pa. hit hard by election officials leaving job after 2020, investigation finds

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Since the 2020 presidential election, more than a third of United States election officials are new, according to data from the Bipartisan Policy Center.

A CBS News Investigation found across Pennsylvania, many have left. Since 2020, a combined total of more than 700 years of on-the-job experience has departed.

Two Pennsylvania counties -- Northampton and Montgomery -- are now expected to be in the spotlight as Election Day looms ahead.

"It was crazy. We had the whole world focused on us," Lamont McClure, the Northampton County Executive, said.

Northampton and Montgomery counties sit roughly 60 miles apart in the Philadelphia suburbs.

"We are going to be one of the most watched counties in the entire country," said Neil Makhija, who is a Montgomery County commissioner.

"We can be confident that our elections are secure and safe and we are taking steps every day to make sure they are accessible for those who want to vote," Makhija said.

In August, CBS News Philadelphia was given a tour behind the scenes of the Montgomery County elections office.

"We work as a team, we're a team player, we work together," Kathy Smith told a small team of county workers and members of the CBS News Philadelphia team.

Staff members were busy, and they were navigating a biannual routine with some key departures. Some who left the job decided it wasn't worth it.

"The threats to personal safety. We've had election officials require 24/7 security. We've had physical threats and violence happen here in Montgomery County and across the country," Makhija said. "There are a lot of reasons people had concerns and wanted to move on."

Makhija said more than a handful of workers and an official had departed.

Those concerns are echoed at the highest levels of the state, even as counties replace departing workers with new hires. Secretary of Commonwealth Al Schmidt , a Republican, manages the department for Gov. Josh Shapiro , a Democrat.

"Some have left because of how the environment has changed around elections, some left because of planned retirements," Schmidt said.

Schmidt knows the climate all too well.

Schmidt was the city commissioner four years ago and oversaw Philadelphia's election. He and his family became the targets of graphic attacks across social media. It's the kind of climate people like Schmidt said it's not surprising people move on from. But this politician has doubled down, demanding confidence in the process.

"Especially in a presidential election with so much scrutiny, and it's really such an unforgiving environment that the smallest error can be misrepresented in a way to undermine confidence in results," Schmidt said.

Back in Norristown, Montgomery County, there's work to be done with the day's obituaries.

"I check all the funeral directors," Smith said.

"That's part of the integrity of the process," Makhija said.

Elections officials said a common criticism is that dead people are still voting.

"Also dead people, our registrar goes so far to make sure no dead people aren't voting in Northampton County. He reads the obituaries every day," McClure said.

Officials have said over and over Election Day is a complex operation.

In Montgomery County, there are 2,700 poll workers staffing 436 precincts across the county.

Officials said most of those workers have been a part of the system for decades, explaining while experience may come and go at the highest levels of the elections divisions, experience at your local precinct is just as important.