Ronda Moore takes over as elections deputy for the Secretary of State's Office just in time for a nationwide revolution in elections laws.
That revolution was mandated by Congress after the controversial 2000 presidential election ballot count in Florida, which ended with the Supreme Court ruling that sent George W. Bush to the White House.
The Help America Vote Act was passed to resolve the issues raised by the Florida vote count and to try open the election process to millions of younger and minority voters who don't vote.
"We have a huge job, basically to work with county officials to implement this federal law revamping the election system," said Moore. "There are a lot of confusing things, and we have to work close with clerks to educate people, poll workers and candidates."
She and her boss, Secretary of State Dean Heller, a longtime advocate of campaign reform, believe there is no other option.
"Look what happened in Florida," Moore said. "We have to ensure that people will not be wrongfully denied the right to vote."
She understands that some people are loath to change a system they believe has generally worked very well for more than 100 years.
"But it increases accessibility, and that's a good thing," she said. "It's a very exciting new time, and we should be doing everything we can to make voting easier.
"I know politicians often would prefer that the voting turnout remain low, but that's not what HAVA says," she said.
Moore said the task fits well with her view of public service, which is why she became a lawyer.
But she took a slightly longer path than most before settling on that goal. Moore, who will be 49 this week, went to college for about a year after high school then dropped out. She spent the next decade working as a cocktail waitress and bartender for hotel-casinos at South Lake Tahoe.
A good part of that time, she took classes at Lake Tahoe Community College. Her major was English literature when she went back to school at Central Washington University in 1988.
"I went through half a master's program in English lit before I changed my mind," she said.
Then she discovered law.
"I'm a person of ideas, and I love reading. Law takes analytical skills. It really fit."
She changed her major and graduated magna cum laude from Gonzaga law school in Washington in 1992. After more than a year with Lionel, Sawyer and Collins in Reno, she joined the Attorney General's Office, where her love of public service developed.
"My vision of public service is to not let big money beat up on people, state agencies or state employees," she said.
"It isn't just going to court. You have to help people not get to court -- to work things out," she said.
Moore says that's the attitude she hopes to bring to the elections office: to help citizens, candidates and public officials work things out.
"We're going to talk to people -- and listen to them," she said. "Even if you can't specifically help them, you can listen to them."
