Ramón sorted out dysfunctional department, starting in 2008

Most public servants, appointed officials, are fairly easy to work with if you’re working up a news story; some easier than others, albeit almost all want to have a decent working relationship with the media.

For the past 14 years, Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Yvonne Ramón has been one of those people who worked well with the local media, but she officially leaves her post this Friday, having finally decided to retire.

A few weeks ago, The Advance (a talking newspaper) called the county office to wish her well and let her reflect on the 14 years she’s spent at the helm inside the elections department, which like the appraisal district, isn’t always the quietest county department in which to work. Consider, Ramon first came on board as elections administrator in 2008, only eight weeks before the November presidential election, which pitted John McCain against Barack Obama.

Adding even more stress to the position, Ramon assumed her new job after her immediate predecessor, Teresa Navarro, had been indicted by a county grand jury, along with a handful of other department employees. All were accused of basically the same thing: using the county’s credit card for personal purchases worth $1,500 or more, but less than $20,000. There were other additional charges tacked on — tampering with a government document.

The arrests came on the heels of a financial audit of the elections department. Guilty pleas followed, with deferred sentences and community service.

Ironically, the judge presiding over that case was “Rudy” Delgado, who would run into his own legal problems circa 2019, when he was found guilty of bribery and obstruction of justice and sentenced to a five-year federal sentence. Delgado was released from prison earlier this year and is reportedly serving out the rest of his sentence at a halfway house. He may even be home by now.

However, forget the prior bit of bad county news, so to speak; the point is, since Yvonne Ramón has held her post since 2008, the county elections department has been free of scandal, free of allegations.

Granted, bad news sells more newspapers, but good news is happier to report.

By law, the elections administrator is appointed by the elections commission board, which is comprised of the county judge, the two party chairs, the county clerk, and the tax assessor. The commissioners court has to sign off on the appointment, which it did with Ramón in 2008.

“The presidential election of 2008 went smoothly,” she said, “through the grace of God, which is what I always say, because it’s true.”

Her Early Days

Starting out in banking at a relatively young age, Ramon was a bank officer at the age of 22, working at the old McAllen State Bank alongside two men well known in the world of local finance at the time: Glenn Roney and his mentor, Vernon Neuhaus.

“I worked directly under Mr. Roney,” she said, “for about eight years.”

Then she had children of her own, and so she decided to go back to school and get her teaching certificate. At McAllen ISD, she taught and then worked her way up to assistant principal.

“It was while I was there that I got this call to apply for this position (with the county).”

With her retirement set for this Friday, when asked what she is most proud of with regard to the job she and her staff have done inside the county elections department, Ramón said, “Just the general fairness. I’m proud to say that we have run fair elections and that we are non-partisan.”

That’s the key, Ramón said, to the workings of any good election department.

Also, stay current with state election law by keeping staff up to date with new changes.

“When you’re able to say that we are doing this because the law mandates it, and you can show someone where it says what you’re telling them, that was always my sword.”

A forensic audit of her department was conducted in 2014, six years after her arrival, right after a heated county primary, but she and her staff were given a clean bill of health.

“You’re scared for a minute, and then you’re over it because there was nothing to be scared of.”

The races dating back to 2014, said Ramón, “were fair, impartial and correctly done, and we proved it.” (See the front-page election story in the Aug. 31 Advance issue for more details about that 2014 audit and primary election.)

The issue at the time included the voting machines.

“(Some candidates who lost) were questioning the machines. I had already announced that they were at the end of their lifespan. They needed to be replaced, but they were still functioning. Maybe they were a little slow.”

But they still worked. “There was a gentleman who had an issue with (a) machine. He was placed on another machine. We canceled that vote and put him on another machine while my staff got there, and they calibrated it, and it went on. We saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, but then they took that, and it just took a life all on its own there. Several candidates filed contests. And so that was a trying time, but in the end we were victorious. We were successful because everything I said was true.”

Still, allegations of voting- machine irregularities never seem to end. Some people allege that the voting machines can be penetrated by hackers even though the machines are offline. Ramón said she continues to hear that allegation, spoken by people who don’t know the real truth.

“(I will hear them say) that the machines are easily penetrated and that the votes are changed, which is not true. And you continue to hear that, and people not having faith (in the voting process). You hear now that they want us to go back to the paper (ballots). And let me tell you, if something is able to be changed, it’s your paper (ballot). All you have to do is run a mark against it. All you have to do is dirty it up and smudge it and spill some water on it. And that ballot is now gone.”

Not so with the electronic machines.

“When you hit vote on that machine, you know what? It is safe and secure. And now that we have the hybrid, now that we have the paper backup, we’ve had several recounts, and there has been absolutely fairness from the paper to the electronic vote. There has been no change because it’s very secure.”

So, as Yvonne Ramón drives off into the sunset to spend time with family and her grandbabies, it’s with well wishes for a long and happy future that The Advance bids her adieu.