Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder Department

Ask a Republican in Washington state about Dean C. Logan, Los Angeles County's interim elections chief, and this might be the answer: "I'm really shocked that anyone would consider hiring Dean Logan to run an elections department," former state party leader Chris Vance said. Ask a Democrat there, and the answer might be like this: "He was marvelous. I have nothing but high praise for Dean," King County Executive Ron Sims said.

County supervisors this week unanimously appointed Dean C. Logan as permanent registrar-recorder/county clerk. The registrar/recorder oversees elections for more than 4 million voters and keeps track of thousands of official documents. Logan, who was chosen from 24 candidates from across the country, had been filling the post on an interim basis since Conny McCormack retired earlier this year. He will be paid $195,000 a year. Logan's short tenure has already been busy.

Even after he records the final results from Tuesday's historic presidential election, Los Angeles County's election czar isn't likely to get any rest. When he's done counting roughly 16% of the ballots left over from Nov. 4, Dean Logan, the county's registrar-recorder, will turn his attention toward improving the democratic process for the next generation.

Two weeks after election day, Kenneth Bennett and Paul Drugan were standing together at the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder's office in Norwalk, gazing through a window that looks into the ballot-counting room. Inside, under pale fluorescent light, workers moved like zombies, feeding ballot after ballot into machines with endless appetites. To Bennett and Drugan, this was a happy sight.

The state Legislature voted Friday to have Los Angeles County election officials take over the recall election targeting four City Council members in Lynwood. The unanimous vote by the Senate and Assembly comes on the heels of a Superior Court judge's ruling that the election will take place Sept. 25. The unusual step was taken because the Lynwood City Council had resisted allowing the recall election to go forward.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack announced Tuesday that she would retire at the end of the year, saying she was tired of battling state officials over the future of electronic voting machines. McCormack, who has served 12 years as the top election official in the largest election jurisdiction in the country, said that Secretary of State Debra Bowen's move this month to pull the plug on the machines used in L.A. County and most of the state clinched her decision.

Los Angeles County's election agency has punched a hole in its overtime budget every year for the last six years, racking up nearly $8.3 million in extra costs, according to a county audit made public Tuesday. The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office spent nearly $27.3 million on overtime during the six years beginning July 2001 -- 43% more than the $19 million that was budgeted, the audit's figures show.