Whether she resigned or retired, Shari Brewer has left her position.

The county commissioners issued a news release Wednesday morning announcing the longtime director of the county elections bureau abruptly resigned her position late last week after 10 years on the job.

Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the county commissioners, told the Butler Eagle that Brewer — who assumed the position in 2010 from former director Regis Young — tendered her resignation Friday. Brewer had been with the county for more than 20 years, starting in 1998.

Osche said she did not know Brewer's motivation for leaving the position in such an abrupt manner, saying only that “I cannot speak to what her reasons might have been.”

Osche went on to say Brewer was not in the building Wednesday, nor was she sure of Brewer's official last day because all documents regarding the resignation were not finalized.

Brewer, on the other hand, said she notified the commissioners Friday of her intent to retire, not resign, and even gave the commissioners two weeks' notice. However, the commissioners declined her offer to work until May 1.

“That was the commissioners' choice,” Brewer said.

She declined to comment on what, if any, problems or disagreements she had with the county that might have resulted in the commissioners' decision to pay her for two weeks, but not have her in the office.

“All I'm going to say is that I retired,” Brewer said when reached by phone Wednesday.

The position oversees all local, state and national elections for the county.

Osche said Brewer left her post at a busy time, as the county will use its new voting machines for the first time at the June 2 primary election. The primary was postponed from its original April 28 date due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Brewer was heavily involved in the process of selecting a vendor for the new voting equipment.

Culminating in a perfect storm — with a push by Democrats to vote using mailed-in ballots that caused increased work at the bureau, an election in a presidential year and now a global pandemic — Osche called it an unfortunate time to be without an elections director.

“There is a lot of pressure there,” Osche said.

She said while the goal is to have a new elections director in place by June 2, she has confidence the current office staff can more than sufficiently see the county through the upcoming election.

According to the news release issued by the commissioners Wednesday morning, bureau employee Chantell McCurdy will oversee poll workers and polling. Melissa Herrit will manage part-time office staff and ensure voter registrations, absentee ballots and mail-in ballots are processed in a timely manner.

“We have a lot of confidence in the elections bureau staff,” Osche said. “We are working with them directly.”

Osche said the vendor for the county's new paper-ballot voting equipment, Election Systems and Software of Omaha, Neb., was in the building Wednesday and promised to help out for as long as necessary.

“They are going to provide us with additional supports and leadership through the process,” she said.

Many employees of Election Systems and Software are former county elections directors themselves, Osche said.

“We want to make sure in a presidential (election) year that we have an accurate and fair election for the citizens of Butler County,” Osche said.

She lauded Brewer for her dedication to Butler County for 22 years.

“She served the county faithfully and with great care,” Osche said. “We all wish Shari and her family well.”

Brewer said she will miss her job as elections director.

“I loved my job. I loved what I did there,” said Brewer, who pushed for election reform and testified before various legislative committees in Harrisburg as chairwoman of the Western Pennsylvania Elections Personnel Association.

“Act 77 and Senate Bill 422 were some of the products of the work that we had done and I'm proud of that,” Brewer said.

Act 77 was signed into law in 2019 and allowed more convenient and secure voting. Senate Bill 422 became law in March 2020 and provided for an election law advisory board.

She said she will miss overseeing the elections process in the county.

“I can leave with my head held high because I did my job,” Brewer said.