2 named to election posts
Anne Norton to be elections director. Stephanie Weaver to be assistant director
Berks County has tapped two of its own to take over leadership of the elections office, selecting a pair of experienced hands to run the department.
The county announced Tuesday that Anne Norton will be promoted to fill the vacant elections director position and Stephanie Weaver will be the new assistant director.
The appointments are pending a final vote of approval from the county commissioners, which is expected to happen at Thursday’s board meeting.
Norton and Weaver have quite a bit of familiarity with running elections for the county.
Norton, who currently serves as election operations and systems manager for the department, joined the office in 2020 after previously working with the Berks County Area Agency on Aging. Before joining the county, she worked as an accountant for several companies including Exide and worked as a substitute teacher.
During her time in the elections office, she led the expanded poll worker training classes and heightened testing of the election system that occurred this past summer and fall, while helping to oversee overall department functions in the ab- sence of a director.
“Running an election is always a team effort, and I’m looking forward to building off of what our team accomplished last fall,” Norton said. “It’s certainly a challenging role, but I feel we have the right team in place to continue to be successful.”
Commissioners Chairman Christian Leinbach said he has full faith in Norton.
“Anne Norton has proven herself and earned the opportunity to lead our election department,” he said in a press release announcing her appointment. “Her work ethic, attention to detail and commitment to the integrity of our elections are clear.”
The department has been without a director since July when Paige Riegner resigned from the post a little more than five months after she took over the position.
Riegner’s resignation was the latest in a string of departures by individuals tasked with leading the county’s election office.
She took over for Ronald Rutkowski who resigned in September after serving as election director for only about 10 months. Prior to that, longtime elections director Deborah Olivieri left the job a few weeks before the November 2020 election.
Weaver became the county’s first public relations officer in June 2020. She previously worked as the communications manager for the Berks County Bar Association and was a reporter for the Reading Eagle for seven years. County officials said she will use her public relations background to help bolster voter education efforts, media relations and online presence. She will also oversee the voting by mail process.
“Stephanie Weaver has been a key player in our elections department over the past two years, providing her with the experience and record necessary to lead in the assistant director role,” Leinbach said. “With the addition of a new administrative assistant position, the office of election services stands ready for the 2023 election cycle.”
Commissioner Michael Rivera, who serves as chairman of the elections board, said the county is excited to have Norton and Weaver as part of the elections team in their new roles.
“They were instrumental in ensuring a successful election in November 2022 in Berks, where we recognized their efforts and leadership,” he said in the press release. “I am confident they will be able to continue to ensure election integrity in Berks County.”
Officials said they are looking to hire replacements for Norton and Weaver as they move to their new positions.