A Claflin University administrator and Orangeburg native began his duties as Orangeburg County's new director of voter registration and elections the first of the year, just weeks before the high-profile presidential primaries.

Howard Jackson, the office's new director, has hit the ground running, learning as he goes.

The former probation and paroles agent says it was probably a combination of his organizational skills and leadership ability that led to his selection.

Otherwise, Jackson says, his prior election experience came as a result of his service in the Air Force Reserves, when "I did some absentee ballot preparation for military service members."

Voter Registration/Elections Commission Chairman Rut Thomas announced the hiring of Jackson during the Jan. 7 session of County Council.

"For the last few months, we've been looking for a good man. We think we've found one," Thomas told council.

There were many factors, Thomas says, that led to Jackson's selection.

"We thought he was the most qualified person we interviewed. He has good qualifications," he said. "He is an Orangeburg native, and we always like to have that if we can find it."

Despite Jackson's lack of actual election experience, Thomas said there's good help in the office to put it all together.

"It's very hard to find somebody who has that kind of experience with elections, and there were other qualifications we were looking for," Thomas said. "We just felt he was the most qualified person."

Thomas says he's very pleased with the way the presidential primaries were conducted.

"We've never had two elections, back-to-back, in seven days," he said. "And, we had a holiday (Dr. Martin Luther King's Day) in there, too."

Although only in office a little more than two weeks when the Republicans held their primary on Jan. 19 (followed a week later by the Democrats), Jackson says he thought both went "exceptionally well. There were no equipment failures, and the poll workers were extremely efficient."

"That was my first one, and I almost was like an observer of the process," he said. "It was a wonderful process."

As he settles into the office, Jackson says he plans to do some precinct relocations.

"Some of the precinct (sites) are either out of the precinct or the location is no longer suitable to hold elections," he said. "Some of the buildings are unsuitable."

Also, Jackson says he plans to establish a countywide voter education program to educate residents about the voting process.

"We're looking to start with the three colleges and move down to the high schools and, eventually, spread out countywide," he said.

The voter registration and elections office includes three staff members, Margaret Berry, Pam McArthur and Lekisha Benekin. Jackson, who has a salary of about $40,000, oversees a budget of $530,000.

The office has been vacant since 2006, when Earl Whalen left the post he'd held for 14 years to concentrate on his increasing duties as deputy county administrator.

Jackson, who is single, is a native of Orangeburg. He's a graduate of South Carolina State University with a degree in criminal justice and from the University of South Carolina with a masters in public administration. In addition to working in probation and paroles for several years, he's been employed at Claflin University for the past six years as coordinator of special programs in the office of career development. He is also an 18-year member of the Air Force Reserve.

T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached by e-mail at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5545.

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