LINN — At the county commission meeting on Aug. 1, Brooke Dudenhoeffer was sworn in as the interim Osage County Clerk. Her first day was Monday, Aug. 5, the day before the Primary Election.

“I am nervous because Nicci did so much that I didn’t know about and (I’m) learning those things,” she said of former Osage County Clerk Nicci Kammerich. “Its a lot, but I’m up for it. I would not have accepted the position if I wasn’t.” 

Although Dudenhoeffer has worked every election since her initial employment began in 2020, she said being in charge of an election is a much bigger job, and she was grateful for Kammerich’s support. “It was overwhelming, being (my) first time, (and my) second day, but she came,” Dudenhoeffer said. “She came back from home. She left her family to come back and help, and it was very much appreciated.

“There are things that Nicci did for the election that I was unaware of,” Dudenhoeffer added. “She definitely set the bar pretty high. There (are) things in the clerk’s side that the deputies don’t have, (and those are) extremely underestimated and under-appreciated.”

Despite it being her first election as clerk, Dudenhoeffer felt the election went smoothly. “Our poll workers all got here super quick,” she said. “Everything ran so well that night, we got out of here at 9:45. (In) bigger elections, I believe we’ll be here much, much, much, much later.

“There were plenty of election nights where it (got) very overwhelming,” Dudenhoeffer continued. “I watched Nicci a couple times, just everything came at her at once, and she handled it with grace. I don’t know how she did it, but she did it. I’m fixing to learn how she did it.”

Dudenhoeffer said this election was also a little easier because there were no write-ins. “No write-ins at all makes it less complicated,” she said. “Write-ins can get difficult because, whether or not the public realizes, whenever they put Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus, a random name, those names still have to be written down, whether they are legit or not. So that’s extra work on our bipartisan team, on my staff, more paperwork for us to submit to the state, more double-checking our Missouri Centralized Voter Registration, everything.”

On the issue of hand-counting ballots, Dudenhoeffer said, “I barely have enough poll workers, election judges, and verification board members to cover the elections we do have. I have had poll workers not come in for their shift, and it is a scramble to replace that person with another person of that same party. In order to hand count, I’m going to need at least double, if not triple, the amount of volunteers, and I don’t have it.”

Dudenhoeffer said her staff is given the option of working a half-day the day after the election, to offset the long election day, and that she insisted on paying Kammerich for her time spent helping with the Primary. “Anytime (Nicci) has offered (to help), she’s willing to do it out of the kindness of her heart, but I have told her, ‘Please let me know how many hours you have, and we’ll pay you for that out of elections,’ because she’s helping with elections,” she explained.

Dudenhoeffer cited pay as the reason she previously left the county clerk’s office. “I left originally because I needed more money,” she said. “Single mom, four kids. I needed more money. I came back because the money is comparable, closer to home, flexible schedule, and they needed somebody to do it. This is where I belong.”

As to whether she will do anything differently, Dudenhoeffer said it’s too soon to tell. “I’m just here to learn right now, and to do my absolute best,” she said. “I’m not saying I could do anything better. I’m not saying I’m going to do everything the same. What works for one person may not work for another. I’ll just do my best within the law, within the statutes, (and) within my capabilities.”