Bruns takes elections post with Miami County board

CELINA - A veteran, award-winning Mercer County elections official has been selected to lead the Miami County Board of Elections.

Miami County Board of Elections members on Tuesday night moved to hire Laura Bruns as their new director, deputy director Ian Ridgeway confirmed to the newspaper. Bruns will start May 13 and earn a salary of $51,500 plus benefits, he added.

Bruns, who lives in Coldwater, must move to Miami County within 30 days of taking office, in accordance with state elections requirements.

"I'm looking forward to a new chapter," Bruns told the newspaper on Wednesday, adding she's leaving the best job she's ever had and high-quality co-workers and poll workers.

Mercer County Board of Elections Chairwoman Toni Slusser could not be reached by press time for comment on Bruns' impending departure and the board's timeline for hiring a replacement.

Bruns will succeed former board director Beverly Kendall, who was fired in January amid an inquiry into why thousands of early votes were not counted last November, according to The Associated Press.

Ridgeway said the board had received more than 50 applications. Eligible candidates had to be Republicans as Ridgeway, the deputy director, is a Democrat. State elections requirements specify that a deputy director must affiliate with a different major political party than the director.

"Experience was a huge factor," Ridgeway said when asked how Bruns stood out among the candidates, pointing to her 11 years of service with Mercer County.

She'll help oversee a transition to Miami County's new paper-based voting system. Miami County has roughly 79,000 registered voters compared with Mercer County's approximately 29,000 registered voters.

Bruns, though, said her main goal is to help boost confidence among Miami County voters in the electoral process.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state's elections chief, had said Miami County's failure to count 6,288 early votes in November is unacceptable, according to AP. His office investigated and found "no evidence that indicated anything unlawful or malicious played any part in what transpired at the Board," according to his report.

"Nor was there any technological or machine malfunction," LaRose wrote. "Instead, inadequate human processes and preparation caused the failure of the Board and its staff to properly download and tally in-person absentee votes cast in the election."

Asked how she feels about entering the fray in Miami County amid heightened scrutiny, Bruns said she's confident her experience in Mercer County will help her restore voter confidence.

Bruns joined the Mercer County Board of Elections as a clerk in 2008 before later moving up to deputy director and director.

A few years ago, the board decided to switch the roles of director and deputy director - Bruns and Deb Sneddon - every two years because their duties often overlap and are interchangeable. Bruns' and Sneddon's current salaries are $45,740 each and reflect a 3% increase for the year.    Sneddon and Bruns in January 2016 took home the Ohio Election Official of the Year awards.

The awards - for both Democrat and Republican official of the year - were announced by then Secretary of State Jon Husted during the Ohio Association of Election Officials Winter Conference.