DeBeauvoir Recognized Nationally by Peers

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir (in blue) explaining electronic voting to Tuna resident Vera Carp (aka actor Jaston Williams) (photo by John Anderson)

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir has been recognized by her peers as the Public Official of the Year. We suspect that the VoteRescue folks would disagree with the "conducting fair and secure elections" statement below – and I have my own reservations about paperless, electronic voting – but I do agree that DeBeauvoir busts her butt to make her office (and our elections) work smoothly.

Press release from the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks follows:

Travis County, Texas, Clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir, Honored as National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks Public Official of the Year

Morrisville, N.C. - The Public Official of the Year Award was presented to Travis County, Texas, Clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir, at the Annual Conference of the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks (NACRC) on July 25 in Nashville, Tenn.

Each year, the Public Official of the Year Award honors a person that has exemplified leadership, ingenuity and excellence in his or her office. Excellence in government is a challenge in our ever-changing world. Delivering top quality service during good times is easy; only those with long-term vision are able to continue to deliver quality service in bad times.

DeBeauvoir has devoted herself to bringing high ethical standards, effective and cost efficient management practices, the benefits of new technology and high quality customer service to her office since elected in 1986. She has served as a co-chair of a NACRC Interest Group and has been essential in developing session topics and securing exceptional speakers to present the topics.

DeBeauvoir has been committed to conducting fair and secure elections that provide access and convenience to voters. She was honored as the 2005 national recipient of the Election Center’s Best Practice Award for her work using risk analysis to implement security measures for electronic voting systems. Her county is recognized across the country for its groundbreaking early voting program that is centered on customer-friendly polling locations in high-traffic retail locations.

She has also implemented innovative new programs in the Recording Division of her office. During her tenure, she has converted a system of handwritten indexes and vulnerable cloth-bound books to a library of safely preserved electronic images that can be viewed on microfilm or on the Internet. These changes have made it easier for businesses and members of the public to research records.

“This person’s heart and soul is in public service and she has been an outstanding leader within her office and our association,” says Tarrant County, Texas, Clerk, Suzanne Henderson.