QCTimes Auditor Survey Answers

The Quad City Times submitted questions to the three candidates for Auditor.
Below are Michael Elliott's responses.

Why do you want to be Auditor?
I was reluctant to run at first, but was encouraged by people from a variety of political persuasions to run by petition and push for a non-partisan approach and ensure that we advocate paper ballots and transparency in the county. The Auditor's office is the hub of the entire county government and maintains the resources and processes that allow the people to hold their elected officials accountable. As a passionate advocate for open and transparent government at all levels, Scott County Auditor is an ideal role for me to play in serving our community.

How do you replace a person who was Auditor for 32 years?
Very carefully. Whoever follows in Karen Fitzsimmons' footsteps will succeed by establishing a culture of collaboration amongst staff, recognizing and supporting the most experienced and effective as leaders from within and leading by example. I see the role of auditor as one of stewardship. This includes maintaining and enhancing the safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the vote, keeping abreast of industry standards, technology and tools such as mapping and accounting software, as well as continuing membership and leadership where possible within county, state and national governmental associations related to the Auditor's office.

What, if any changes need to be made to the election process in Scott County?
We need to continue to strive for the paper ballot system with a credible audit to ensure the highest level of integrity and protection of our election process. This is the only way to ensure that future generations will enjoy fair, open and honest democratic procedures.

What more can be done to increase transparency in Scott County elections?
Having all paper ballot counts done out in the public view and ensuring a publicly documented chain of custody for all ballots would increase transparency in elections.

What steps as county auditor would you take to ensure that there is no fraud in the conduct of elections?
First, continue to disallow the use of privatized, paperless computerized balloting systems which have been referred to as "Black Box Voting." These systems lack transparency because they eliminate a paper ballot audit trail.
Establish a strong chain of custody procedure for the ballots and make it harder for people to possibly manipulate the election process by decentralizing the counting of ballots down to the precinct level. We also need to ensure that voters are identified properly while at the same time, not making it difficult for the people to exercise their voting rights.

What is your opinion of how the county auditor's office has implemented the provisions of the federal Help America Vote Act?
It seems that Scott County's Auditor's office has been ahead of the curve on implementing the goals of HAVA. My discontent is that HAVA didn't go far enough and call for a mandatory paper trail for all of the counties in our country. We have been fortunate enough to not have had an election system here in Scott county that created controversies like in Florida and Ohio, which was the driving force behind passing this act in the first place.

Outside of elections, where else can changes be made in how the Auditor's office is managed?
One would certainly strive to maintain the award winning accounting procedures within the Auditor's office.
It would be premature and presumptuous right now to determine specifics on managerial changes within the office. One would need to get to know all of the staff and determine strengths and weaknesses in order to lead effectively.
I believe it would be important to ensure we follow the open meeting laws and avoid closed sessions which only create suspicion among citizens about what their government is doing that requires secrecy. And, I think that we should evaluate the example of the Missouri Accountability Portal (MAP), which as their website describes, is a single point of reference to review how the people's money is being spent and other pertinent information related to the enforcement of government programs.