There is perhaps no county office more obscure than the position of clerk/auditor.

Seriously. Commissioners are public figures, and the offices of county attorney, treasurer, assessor and sheriff are self-explanatory. But clerk/auditor (along with, arguably, county recorder) -- folks would be hard-pressed to say what that person does, much less who it is.

There are two people seeking the GOP nomination for the Utah County clerk/auditor office this year, however -- Cary McConnell and Bryan Thompson, both of Spanish Fork. They are the only people filed in the race, so whoever gets the nomination will be the only name on the ballot come November.

McConnell is the tax and elections supervisor in the clerk/auditor's office. Thompson is a business manager at Vantage Controls in Orem.

The current officeholder, Kim Jackson, is running for county treasurer.

Both men said they received encouragement to run once Jackson announced that he would seek a different office.

"I've seen all the clerk and maybe a portion of the auditor's side," McConnell said. "I understand what's going on in the office ... the concerns and the frustrations of the employees."

Said Thompson: "This is an office that really is involved in the day-to-day operations of the county. It takes someone who's had the background and the ability to work in multiple areas."

The clerk/auditor's responsibilities include overseeing all county elections, acting as clerk of the county commission, issuing marriage licenses and processing U.S. passport applications, administering county purchasing and accounting and helping manage the property tax system.

The biggest and most visible issue for the office is the introduction of electronic voting machines, McConnell said. Policies are being developed for those machines, he said.

The clerk/auditor could also work on voter registration issues. There's now a statewide database, which helps, he said, and he suggested taking a look at "motor voter" registrations to see if that system could be tightened up.

"The clerk has a responsibility to make sure the voter registration system stays intact," McConnell said.

Thompson also discussed elections, suggesting that the new voting machines be subjected to testing "over and above what the manufacturer provides."

That's an example of what he calls private industry "best practices" for oversight and quality control that could benefit the county.

"I'm anxious to use those skills, bring those to the county," Thompson said. "One of the things is really making sure that people at higher levels don't dictate programs. We're not always involving the rank and file.

"They've got the experience. Us politicians, we come and go."

Cary McConnell

cary4clerkauditor@gmail.com

Bryan Thompson

www.bryanethompson.com

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.