Changes are continuing in Aiken County Registration and Elections Office's management (2024)

The Aiken County Voter Registration and Elections Office is continuing to undergo changes at the management level following the retirement of Cynthia Holland as its director in May.

Interim director Michael Bond resigned recently; his last day was Aug. 9.

Judy Justice is the new interim director. She joined the Registration and Elections Office management team Aug. 5.

“I have to take care of some health issues that I have neglected because I’m always here,” said Bond on Aug. 7. “I’ve spent too much time here, and I’ve put too much on the back burner. I was worried that if I waited, I would end up sick and in the hospital or something in October [right before the November general election], and we (the Registration and Elections Office) would be in bad shape.”

Bond worked for the Registration and Elections Office for 13 years and was the deputy director prior to Holland’s departure.

During the spring, “I was already planning on doing it (resign), but when Cynthia announced her retirement, I didn’t want to leave the voters and do it right before the primaries in June,” Bond said.

He will miss being a member of the Registration and Elections Office’s management team.

“I love serving the voters of Aiken County, and I love what I do,” Bond said. “But I don’t feel that I can keep up, because of personal stuff, with the demands [of the job] to the standards I hold myself to. I hope I can come back and help out here and there.”

Justice is an honorary regent with the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s Henry Middleton Chapter.

Her previous work experience involving voter registration and elections locally dates back to 2007.

“I’ve been a poll manager and a poll clerk,” Justice said. “I’ve also worked in the office on the temporary staff.

“I love elections,” she added. “Since I was a kid, democracy is something that I’ve always been interested in. I went to class in democracy when I was in high school in civics and it just resonated with me. It (democracy) is something we, as citizens, need to be serious about and [we should] understand who we’re voting for.”

So far, Justice has been busy.

“To be honest, I’ve just been trying to get a grasp on what… they’ve been doing,” she said. “When you work on one side of the arena and then you get into the management side of the arena, it’s two different areas. I’ve been having a good time and I’m getting to learn a lot.”

The Registration and Elections Office also has a new interim deputy director, Amy Nichols, who became part of the management team Aug. 5.

Meanwhile, the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Aiken County is continuing its search for a permanent director for the Registration and Elections Office.

“We are working to make sure that voters of Aiken will have a successful election in November,” Board of Registration and Elections Chairperson Blanche Wimberlytold the Aiken Standard on Aug. 8.

The deadline for resumes/applications to be submitted was Aug. 9.

“We’ll be looking at those as a board, and we’ll be narrowing them down,” Wimberly said.

She added that the Board of Registration and Elections would be moving forward “expeditiously” to hire a permanent director.