Dallas Registrar Is Chosen to Run County Elections

The elections administrator for Dallas County, Texas, was selected Monday as the new registrar of voters, replacing Ray Ortiz, who resigned in September amid charges of mismanaging contracts and misappropriating public money.

Conny McCormack, 38, will head the county’s registrar of voters office beginning in June, assuming responsibilities that have been handled by acting Registrar Keith D. Boyer, Chief Administrative Officer Norman W. Hickey announced in a press release.

County officials last week interviewed four finalists chosen from 55 candidates from throughout the country.

The selection of McCormack marks the second time that Boyer, who was one of the four finalists, has been passed over for the job. Boyer said he will help McCormack adjust to her new position but added that he may then leave.

“I was one of the final candidates, so I’m extremely disappointed,” Boyer said. “I am still looking at all options. I just don’t know what I will be doing in the future. I guess I can’t seem to quite make it.

“I congratulate her; it’s over and it’s behind.”

Boyer, who has been with the office for 16 years, was the acting registrar for 10 months from 1978 to 1979, when Ortiz was hired for the top job. Boyer has been acting registrar since July, when Ortiz began a leave of absence.

Ethel (Dee) Chastain, San Diego County personnel director, said the final four candidates were outstanding and called the selection process difficult.

“Mr. Boyer was an outstanding candidate,” Chastain said. “There were, however, extremely good people he was competing against. This was just a question of selecting from among stars. This is not a negative reflection of Mr. Boyer.”

McCormack will earn about $60,000 in her new job. She makes $48,926 in Dallas.

At a press conference Monday in Dallas, she said she looks forward to the challenge of overseeing elections involving more voters and living in a new climate. She has been the Dallas chief elections administrator since 1981.

Dallas County has about 784,000 registered voters. San Diego County has more than a million registered voters.

In her letter of resignation to the Dallas County Elections Commission, McCormack wrote: “In the past, my husband, Mick, and I have only dreamed of the possibility of living on the beautiful coast of Southern California, and now, we have the opportunity to turn that dream into a reality.

“There are very few challenges left here now for me. I feel like the system I put in place is in place now. I don’t feel I’ve left anything unresolved.”

During her first few years as coordinator of Dallas County elections, McCormack was criticized by some Dallas officials, primarily in connection with initial problems with the county’s use of a computerized, punch-card system.

However, after the troubles that plagued the 1982 elections, McCormack helped carry out 700 major and minor elections with the new voting system.

In 1978, McCormack was director of the Jury Services Department before being appointed elections administrator for Dallas County in 1981. Before that, she was chief administrative assistant to the president of the Atlanta City Council.

While working as the chief elections administrator, McCormack also served as interim vice president of the International Assn. of Major Election Administrators.

She replaces Ortiz, who, along with two others, is awaiting trial on 27 felony counts of grand theft, making false entries on public records and misappropriation of public funds while in office.