Ellins wants to stay on as elections supervisor

Lynn Ellins, who ran Doña Ana County’s most successful election in recent years on Nov. 7, wants to keep the job.

The position of permanent elections supervisor was posted last week, and Ellins confirmed that he has applied. The last day to apply is Dec. 26.

Clerk Rita Torres hired Ellins in August to run the election as a temporary employee. He replaced Mari Langford, who Torres fired following problems with the June primary.

At the time, Ellins, a former deputy secretary of state in Colorado, said he would stay on through the completion of the Nov. 7 election and related activities, but didn’t know what he would do after that.

After the election, he said he would stay until sometime in January, when the last possible day to appeal anything related to the election passed, and said he would use his time to further implement the recommendations of this year’s elections task force, which he co-chaired until he started working for the county.

There might be other applicants, and Torres could hire someone else, but it seems unlikely after the heaps of praise she has earned from Democrats and Republicans alike for hiring Ellins. It’s great news that he has decided he wants to stay on.