Riverside County registrar of voters resigns and gets nearly $800,000 in settlement

Riverside County Registrar of Voters Rebecca Spencer resigned from her position late last week, and she will receive nearly $800,000 as part of a settlement agreement with the county.

Riverside County accepted Spencer’s resignation Friday, Sept. 29, according to county spokesperson Brooke Federico.

Spencer, who had been the county's elections chief since 2014, was placed on administrative leave in mid-September, according to reporting by The Press-Enterprise. At the time, Spencer’s lawyer told The Press-Enterprise the move was “totally retaliatory and political in nature."

Federico said the settlement agreement reached by the two parties was “done solely for the purposes of compromise, and to eliminate the burden and expense of any litigation.” Spencer will receive $799,591 as part of the agreement.

“This agreement is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing by either party,” Federico said in an emailed statement.

Federico declined to provide any details about the circumstances that led to Spencer’s resignation. However, a recent letter from Runbeck Election Services, a vendor that regularly works with the county, to County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said Spencer often mismanaged election processes and blamed the company for issues, according to a Press-Enterprise report. Spencer’s attorney denied the allegations.

Some issues that arose impacted local elections, including in the Coachella Valley. In March 2021, more than 11,000 vote-by-mail ballots were delivered late for elections in Cathedral City and Eastvale. At the time, Spencer attributed the delay to a printing vendor that didn’t notify the registrar’s office of its error.

Art Tinoco, the county’s assistant registrar of voters, who has been with the office since 2002, will serve as interim registrar, subject to confirmation by the Board of Supervisors. Federico said the county plans to conduct a recruitment process for the permanent position.

Spencer received roughly $277,000 in salary and benefits in 2022, according to Transparent California, a database of pay and pensions for public employees.

While the city of Perris and a few special districts have elections coming up in November that will be conducted by the county registrar’s office, the next countywide election is the 2024 primary set for March 5.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Riverside County elections chief resigns, gets $800,000 settlement