Election Connection – Special Ep 4 CACEO 2025 – The Roots of Integrity - Why We Serve Elections

Guest: Tricia Webber, Santa Cruz County Clerk and Registrar of Voters
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Podcast Outline & Key Timestamps
I. Introduction & Origin Story (00:00:12 – 00:01:28)
00:00:12 – Welcome: Tricia Webber introduces herself from the CACEO conference in San Ramon

00:00:30 – The Accidental Start: Tricia reveals she followed a boy to Santa Cruz and joined the elections department in 1997 as "extra help" on the advice of her future mother-in-law

00:01:06 – Career Path: A summary of her nearly 30-year journey, moving from poll worker management and Vote by Mail to being appointed County Clerk

II. Discovering the Power of a Vote (00:01:28 – 00:03:51)
00:01:45 – Personal Evolution: Tricia admits she was not a "good voter" initially because she didn't understand how she fit into the system

00:02:39 – The Single-Vote Contest: Tricia shares her first election experience in 1998, where a city council member won by just one vote

00:02:48 – Ensuring Accuracy: To confirm the single vote, the department counted the ballots approximately 75 times

00:03:18 – Local Impact: She discusses how people often focus on global or national elections while forgetting the massive impact a single voice has at the local level

III. Radical Transparency in Santa Cruz (00:03:51 – 00:05:50)
00:04:12 – Inviting the Public: The department’s philosophy is built on education, often telling the public, "Let's make you part of the process so you can understand it"

00:04:44 – Avoiding Recounts: Tricia explains that Santa Cruz rarely has formal recounts because they perform expanded 1% manual tallies during the canvass, keeping the process open for all candidates and proponents to see

IV. The "Election Bug" & The Reality of the Job (00:05:50 – 00:08:15)
00:05:50 – Handling the Intensity: Tricia describes the "wave pattern" of election work, which can go from 0 to 60 in less than a nanosecond

00:06:32 – Not a 9-to-5: She highlights the physical and mental demands of the job, including working 18-hour days for 12 days in a row

00:07:09 – Camaraderie for Democracy: The segment concludes with a discussion on the unique bond formed between election workers who stay up until 3:00 AM to ensure the job is finished for the sake of democracy

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