Vergennes Township recently issued the following announcement.
With all of the craziness in the election world, so thankful for our KENT County elections officials!!!
Kent County Election Officials Earn National Accreditation
Two Kent County, Michigan Election Officials - Robert Macomber, Chief Deputy County Clerk; and Gerrid Uzarski, Elections Director - have been designated as Certified Elections/Registration Administrators (CERA), the highest professional achievement for election officials in the country.
The CERA designation is achieved only through a multi-year course of study taught by the Auburn (Alabama) University’s Master in Public Administration (MPA) faculty, and conducted by the Professional Education Program of the Election Center - the National Association of Election Officials. The intent of the program is to professionalize the management of voter registration and elections administration in promoting and preserving public trust in the democratic process.
“I am so proud of Rob and Gerrid, and Kent County is fortunate to have two of the top-designated election professionals in the United States,” said Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons,
“Obtaining and maintaining CERA status means they both have committed to a career-long process of continuing education to professionalize their roles and provide public confidence in the administration and integrity of elections in Kent County, Michigan, and the nation.” she concluded.
“This is the highest designation available to elections and voter registration officials,” said Tim Mattice, director of the Election Center. “The 2021 graduating class of 69 election professionals join a total of 1,335 election officials and election vendors who have achieved the CERA status. This is an outstanding accomplishment.”
The Professional Education Program is sponsored by the Election Center, a non-profit association of voter registrars, elections administrators and providers of election services throughout the United States and its Territories. Its membership is comprised of township, city, county and state elections officials and other election related organizations. The Center’s primary purpose is to promote and support continuous improvement in the administration of elections and voter registration through research, professional education, conferences, networking and consulting. Professional Education Program participants receive continuing education credit from Auburn University as well as professional training credits from the Election Center.
Macomber and Uzarski, who have served in their positions since 2017, began the CERA accreditation training process in 2018 and graduated from the program in August 2021. Together with Clerk Lyons, they have worked to administer 16 elections on behalf of Kent County’s voters.
Original source can be found here.
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