State Board of Election Commissioners Director Susie Stormes will retire Dec. 31, board staff have announced.
Stormes has been employed by the commission for 17 years and became director in 2000. The commission announced her retirement in a letter dated Nov. 21.
The board, created in 1969, is responsible for training election officials and monitoring compliance with election laws.
The seven-member board consists of the secretary of state, two members appointed by the governor, one member each appointed by the chairman of the Democratic and Republican parties, and one chosen by both the president pro tempore of the senate and the House speaker, accordingto the board website.
The board will choose a new director, legal counsel Tim Humphries said.
Stormes did not return phone calls or e-mails Monday. Her salary is $83,637.
Her husband, Mike Stormes, served as state budget administrator from 1989 to 2011.
The board is next scheduled to meet Feb. 27. Humphries said no other meeting has been scheduled.
In a Nov. 20 e-mail, Republican board member Stu Soffer asked other board members to join him in asking board chairman Secretary of State Mark Martin to call a meeting in the first two weeks of December to designate an interim director.
Arkansas Code Annotated 7-4-101(e)(1) specifies that the board meets at the call of the chairman or at the request of four or more members.
Less than 24 hours later, Soffer withdrew his request through another e-mail after only two board members, Susan Inman and Rhonda Cole, agreed that a meeting should be called.
Martin has no plans to call a special meeting to address the issue, said spokesmanAlex Reed.
Rep. Bryan King, R-Berryville, has said he plans to carry legislation changing the makeup of the board and its staff when he returns as a senator in the 2013 session.
King has accused board employees of ignoring problems and complaints about the state’s elections, most recently for not acting quickly in response to allegations of voter fraud in 2011.
On Sept. 5, Rep. Hudson Hallum of Marion and three other men pleaded guilty in federal court to bribing absentee voters in exchange for their votes in 2011 - a primary on April 20, a runoff on May 10 and a special general election for an empty seat on July 12. Hallum has since resigned.
Despite hearing allegations days after the election, the board didn’t investigate. Staff members said after Hallum’s conviction that the board didn’t investigate because the Arkansas State Police had begun an investigation.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/27/2012