A battle-hardened veteran of local, state and national elections is stepping down to enjoy retirement, although she said the decision wasn’t easy.
Murray County Election Board Secretary Tommie Grimes recently announced she is retiring at the end of the month. A reception in her honor was held last week at the Murray County Courthouse Annex with a host of well-wishers, friends, and co-workers sending her off on a new journey in her life.
Grimes began working for the Murray County Election Board in 2003, serving as assistant secretary. In 2011, she was appointed as secretary by former State Senator Frank Simpson, and was reappointed every four years until this December when she made her retirement decision.
“I am honored and so very proud of the service to Murray County and to the State of Oklahoma that I have had the privilege of doing over the past 20 plus years,” she said. “Deciding to retire has not been an easy decision but it was made much easier because I am confident that the county election board is being left in good hands.”
Taking over for Grimes will be Rhonda Summers, her long-time assistant since 2011. State Senator Greg McCortney (R-Ada) recently appointed Summers to the top county position with Grimes’ endorsement.
Grimes was one of 77 election board secretaries, one for each county in Oklahoma, and each is senate-appointed every four years. “We are a uniform system,” she said. “Each office uses the same equipment, forms and follows the rules and requirements of the State Election Board and Oklahoma State Law. Oklahoma has always had the best election system in the U.S., we have seen many changes over the past 12 years from new voting devices, internal election audits and many new legislative bills that have been passed into law, all to keep Oklahoma elections safe and secure.”
In 2018, Grimes was invited by the state election board to join the Regional Coordinator Program, in which she was tasked with overseeing and assisting secretaries in seven to nine counties in this area. Her duties were to conduct in person visits with each county secretary on a quarterly basis, she said.
“We deliver information and new legislation to the counties from the state level, we answer questions and help with concerns the counties may have, and we also conduct training with the secretaries, precinct officials and board members,” she said.
“The Regional Coordinator Program is made up of the best of the best and I am very proud to have served for six years, resigning due to my impending retirement plans,” said Grimes. “Some of the counties that I have carried as an RC are LeFlore, Latimer, Pontotoc, Seminole Atoka, Pushmataha, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma, Cleveland, Grady, Garvin, McClain, Love, Carter, Johnston, Marshall and Stephens.”
Grimes encourages any voter with a concern or question to “always call their local county election board for correct answers, not social media or friends.”
She said it has been a pleasure to have served Murray County and the State of Oklahoma.
