The election worker wanted to serve her country. A hodgepodge of conspiracy theories and vitriol is expected.

RENO, Nev. (AP) — One morning last month, Carey-Ann Burgess did something completely unremarkable: On her way to work, she made a quick stop at a coffee shop.

For Burgess, the chief election official in northern Nevada County, such outings can be dangerous. While she was waiting for hot tea and a sandwich for breakfast, an elderly woman approached her.

“She kept telling me that I should be ashamed of myself, that I was a disgrace, I was a disgrace to Washoe County, and I should crawl into a hole and die,” Burgess told The Associated. Click on the next day.

There will be no more morning stops at the cafe. This added to the growing list of things Burgess no longer did because of her job. She has already stopped buying groceries and other necessities. We ate food at home.

“I go to work, go home and go to church, that’s it,” Burgess said. “Now I’m very careful where I go.”

Still, Burgess said she’s looking forward to November and watching the presidential election in Nevada’s second-most populous county with her team. That ended one day in late September when she was called into a meeting with county officials.

The district said Burgess asked for sick leave to cope with stress, and called his departure a personnel matter. The statement said it was “focused on conducting smooth and fair elections.” Burgess said she was supplanted after refusing to agree to personnel changes sought by the district administration. She said she repeatedly asked to stay, even providing a doctor’s note certifying her health and hiring a lawyer.

The office is now overseen by Deputy Burgess, the fifth person in four years to oversee elections for the county. All staff are new since 2020. Staff turnover is one symptom of a district that is politically divided and under attack from election conspiracy theories since the days of Republican Donald Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

In her first public appearance since her abrupt departure, Burgess told the AP last week that she was worried about her team and unsure of what to do next.

“I gave this job 110% of who I was, who I am. And then all of a sudden I black out and don’t understand anything,” Burgess said as she contemplated her next steps. “I don’t understand how we got to this point.”

AP reporters were in Reno in September, a week before she left, and spent several days with Burgess, including time at the Washoe County elections office and at her home. As is the case with those who preceded herBurgess and her staff were in a pressure cooker, subjected to harsh criticism at public meetings and forced to respond conspiracy claims about voting machines, drop boxes and voter lists.

Working with county election commissioners who don’t trust elections made the job even more difficult.

Burgess was an extreme example of the problems facing local election officials across the country after four years of false claims that undermined public confidence in elections and those running them. Across the country, election workers have faced harassment and even death threats and have taken additional security measures this year, including adding bulletproof glass and panic buttons.

In the three days AP spent with Burgess, she showed no signs that she planned to leave her job.

“I didn’t think I’d be in the place I am now, in the spotlight and hotbed of this election, but I’m grateful,” Burgess said, sitting in her living room surrounded by an inspiring Bible. passages and Christian symbols. “I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m grateful to be able to serve my country again.”

The Washoe County Board of Elections is located inside a government building complex a few miles north of downtown Reno. Burgess’s office before her departure was decorated with American flags, a copy of the U.S. Constitution and red, white and blue decorative stars reading “Liberty, Liberty and America.”

“Election Heroes Work Here,” read a sign outside her office door.

She was the fourth person to lead the Washoe County Board of Elections since 2020 and was appointed interim registrar of voters in January by a 3-2 vote by the county board.

Across the United States, local election officials, tired of harassment and job-related demands, retired or left the profession fully. Even Burgess stopped running for a time after being publicly harassed by people upset about Trump’s loss in 2020, even though he easily won the Minnesota district where she was serving at the time.

Arriving in Washoe County, where the Sierra Nevada meets the high desert, Burgess encountered a county mired in voting conspiracy theories. County meetings are often delayed by members of the public who opposed Burgess’s hiring and don’t trust the voting equipment.

“It feels like you’re on the front line, but it’s a different front line. This is the front line of democracy, not the front line of battle,” Burgess said. “But the way the country is divided at the moment, it’s like a war because every day you’re fighting some kind of misinformation.”

A few days before leaving, Burgess brought in a consultant to train staff on how to cope with stress. Among many other things on her to-do list was improving security at the elections office.

Among the recommendations was placing a film on glass windows that would slow, but not stop, bullets.

“That’s when I realized I had a much more dangerous job than I expected,” Burgess said. “This should never happen.”

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to improve explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. Learn more about the AP Democracy Initiative Here. AP is solely responsible for all content.