“I'm thrilled to join such a great team, and excited about the opportunity to continue contributing to fair and secure elections, this time at a national level,” Garcia wrote on his Twitter page.
Zooming in
According to the Election Assistance Commission website, it was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002. It is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with several responsibilities, including:
- Developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements
- Adopting voluntary voting system guidelines
- Serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration
- Accrediting testing labs
- Certifying voting systems
- Auditing the use of HAVA funds
In resigning from his previous position, Garcia wrote a letter to County Judge Tim O’Hare and County Administrator G.K. Maenius. Garcia thanked Maenius for his support and guidance.
“Thank you for your leadership, and for just letting election officials do their job and stay out of politics. That means the world to us,” Garcia said.
“My formula to administer a quality transparent election stands on respect and zero politics; compromising on these values is not an option for me. You made it clear in your last meeting that our formula is different, thus, my decision is to leave,” Garcia wrote addressing O’Hare.
In a unanimous vote by the Tarrant County Election Commission, Clinton Ludwig was appointed to be the new Tarrant County election administrator.
Ludwig, a former Marine, serves as the county’s chief deputy county clerk. According to O’Hare, Ludwig will begin his new role Aug. 1.
The county’s election commission is a group of bipartisan officials tasked with filling the job of election administrator. Its members include:
- O’Hare
- Rick Barnes, chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party
- Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party
- Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector Wendy Burgess
- Tarrant County Clerk Mary Louise Nicholson
