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Lisa Wise, third from left, stands with students from Young Women\u2019s STEAM Research and Preparatory Academy in the El Paso Independent School District. Wise is El Paso County\u2019s elections administrator where she is responsible for overseeing the planning and execution of elections. (Courtesy of Lisa Wise)<\/p>\n
Both major political parties in El Paso County say Wise\u2019s office plays a critical role in maintaining confidence in local elections. Republican Party Chair Michael Aboud said the job comes with inevitable challenges but described Wise as responsive and effective in addressing issues as they arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes there\u2019s things that happen that are completely unexpected,\u201d Aboud said. \u201cShe does a pretty good job \u2026 she\u2019s very responsive to any information I request.\u201d<\/p>\n
El Paso County Democratic Party Chair Michael Apodaca also pointed to the pressures of administering elections in a politically charged environment, saying Wise must navigate \u201ca lot of personalities\u201d and heightened scrutiny. Still, he said her transparency and knowledge of election law have helped build trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been very transparent and very quick to solve an issue,\u201d Apodaca said.<\/p>\n
ELECTION 2026 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the May 26 primary runoffs in El Paso<\/a><\/p>\n Wise joined El Paso County in April 2015. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science and public administration from Park University in Missouri and a master\u2019s degree in public administration, with a focus on state and local government, from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.<\/p>\n As election preparations continue, Wise spoke with El Paso Matters about the responsibilities of her office, the challenges of administering elections and what voters should know ahead of the upcoming elections. Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n What do you love most about your job? Do you have a favorite day?\u00a0<\/p>\n Wise: I do love elections. I love the principle of them. I love the philosophy of them. Every day there\u2019s some joy in that. Because I really do believe in the power of elections and the power of the vote. That it\u2019s something I\u2019ve been interested or fascinated with, even since when I was a kid.\u00a0<\/p>\n The thing that probably I do love the most is, when we do outreach. When we do things for the public, whether it\u2019s a mock election, whether it\u2019s speaking to classes, whether it\u2019s talking to a group, community leaders, talking about elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n I could talk about elections probably for five or six hours \u2013 and my kids would tell you that. So, I do like to go out and do that, and find out what\u2019s on their mind. What are they seeing? What are they concerned with? But it\u2019s kind of taking it from our department and finding out what voters are interested in.<\/p>\n Is this what you wanted to be since you were younger?\u00a0<\/p>\n Wise: I wanted to be a lawyer when I was young, but I was always fascinated with elections and the process.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know that I wanted to be an elections administrator. That wasn\u2019t really, like, a job. But I can remember being in second or third and fourth grade, and we had, like, our county tax assessor come and his name was Mr. Takechi and I was fascinated with local government even at, like, the tax assessor\u2019s level when I was in elementary school. I remember I had him sign this piece of paper and I kept his autograph for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n I remember I wrote to my legislator about homelessness when I was in third or fourth grade. I was always interested in how things got decided, on how decisions were made and who was my representative. I had my neighbor over, and I remember we wrote letters to him about, \u201cWhy do we see all these abandoned buildings that could be turned into homeless shelters?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n What does your typical day-to-day look like, or is every day different?\u00a0<\/p>\n Wise: Every day is pretty different. It really depends where we are in the election cycle. If we\u2019re looking at toward the beginning of the election cycle, we\u2019re working on contracts with (government) entities, locating polling sites, getting the poll workers, doing the training, doing the testing of the ballots. There\u2019s a long process that starts well before Election Day, usually about 90 days out.\u00a0<\/p>\n If we\u2019re closer to the poll, then we\u2019re working on ballot by mail, we\u2019re working on voter registration deadlines, we\u2019re working on the ballot printing and all of those things.<\/p>\n Then, if we\u2019re at the after \u2013 the post-election wrapup \u2013 it\u2019s the audits, the required manual hand count. It\u2019s the picking up all of the machines, getting all of the sites wrapped up, working on payroll for our 1,000 people, and on that side of it, and then usually we\u2019re really probably about to start again.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty cyclical. We have on average about five elections a year, so, when you\u2019re starting 90 days out, you\u2019re constantly just really back-to-back in election mode.<\/p>\n Do you have a lot of challenges at your job?\u00a0<\/p>\n Wise: Yeah, we do have a lot of challenges. We\u2019re always looking for additional poll participant workers<\/a>. It seems like we always have a need for that. We\u2019re always looking for locations that are ADA (American Disability Act) compliant, have ample parking, have room, internal space that can accommodate the machines and voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n