Shelby County Election Commission administrator keeps his job

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) – Embattled Shelby County Election Commission administrator Richard Holden gets to keep his job.

This comes after a brutal attack from Democratic commissioners who repeatedly questioned Holden's leadership over his staff.  The commission's three Republicans voted to keep Holden.

In a contentious meeting of the Shelby County Election Commission, barbs from the two democratic commissioners were thrown repeatedly at commission administrator Richard Holden.  Commissioners Norma Lester and Robert Monger wanted Holden out.

"This is certainly a trust issue," Commissioner Robert Monger said. "At this point, absolutely this is a trust issue that has certainly developed over the 20 months I've been here as commissioner."

None of the commissioners, Republican or Democrat, are happy with the way elections have gone in Shelby County.  Six months ago the commission voted to suspend Holden for three days and put him on probation for six months which ends at the end of this month.

It came after big problems in the August election - people getting the wrong ballots, some being turned away from the polls, and ultimately voters losing confidence in the election process.

But the vote was never there to oust Holden.

"For better or worse, Mr. Holden has been through a whole lot," chairman Robert Meyers said. "He has a lot more knowledge now than when he started three years ago. I think it would be a shame to let him go to satisfy an emotional need."

"We want everything to work, as do the voters," Holden said.  "We're working toward that.  We're not there yet.  We will continue to improve."

The Democrats on the election commission said before the meeting started they knew how the vote would go.  They said they knew their two against three vote was not enough to oust

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