Meet the Faces of Democracy: Kathy Placencia

More than 10,000 officials across the country run U.S. elections. This interview is part of a series highlighting the election heroes who are the faces of democracy.

Kathy Placencia is the director of elections for Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore. Before joining the Department of State, Placencia served as the administrator of elections for the City of Providence for 17 years.

Placencia is a member of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) and the Elections Assistance Commission (EAC). Placencia’s leadership led to her starring in the esteemed documentary “No Time to Fail,” which showcased election officials during the historic 2020 election. She frequently travels the nation to speak on panels to discuss the documentary and her expertise in elections.

Placencia previously served as a board member for Omni Development Corporation on the advisory board for R.I.S.E (Realizing Inspiration & Sustaining Excellence) Women’s Leadership Conference and as a board member of the Providence YMCA. She received her Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Human Services from Springfield College.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Issue One: How did you end up in the election administration profession?

Kathy Placencia: Totally by mistake. My background is in finance, and that's where I thought I wanted to be. I took a chance and went on an interview with our former secretary of state, Nellie Gorbea, who was then the deputy secretary in 2004. I was hired on the spot and started my job as the executive administrative assistant in the Department of Elections in March of 2004, the day before the presidential preference primary in Rhode Island.

In November of 2005, I was hired as the administrator of elections for the city of Providence, which is the largest community in Rhode Island. Then, I came back as the director of elections for our current secretary in January of 2023.

Issue One: What part of the election administration story in Rhode Island isn’t told enough, or isn’t widely understood enough?

Kathy Placencia: Here in Rhode Island, it's the roles and responsibilities of each entity. We have the Department of State, Elections Division, the Board of Elections, and our 39 municipalities, or 39 cities and towns that run their elections, because we are a top-down state. We're the only office that's led by an elected official. That can mean that we have to do extra work here to clarify what isn't in our purview. We are the people that are receiving the most calls related to elections.

We also deal with the Board of Elections, who actually tabulate and certify elections and are in charge of the election equipment, or the voting equipment. Our office is also in charge of civic education for the state, and we conduct a lot of mock elections in high schools. We're also in charge of the ballot creation and proofing and creating election guides for our local boards of canvassers, voters, and candidates. Then the 39 cities and towns run their local elections under the jurisdiction of the state Board of Elections. That is what is most misunderstood here in Rhode Island.

Issue One: What is a top-down state?

Kathy Placencia: The state Board of Elections is in charge of the procurement of the election equipment. Each of the 39 municipalities in Rhode Island operate in the same manner. They're not purchasing their own equipment. The state is purchasing the election equipment for them and the state Board of Elections maintains their election equipment. The cities and towns are in charge of hiring each of their polling officials to run elections in their communities, but the polling officials are trained by the state Board of Elections. The state is in charge of making sure that the ballot order for each community is perfect, and we place the ballot order based on previous voter turnout and what we feel the turnout will be.

Issue One: What are some of the greatest challenges to building confidence in elections in Rhode Island?

Kathy Placencia: The greatest challenges are mis- and disinformation. We think that we have things figured out and know how to reach people, but then another rumor pops up that we have to respond to. Other states do things that we have no control over, and that automatically sends people into a panic.

It’s important that people are informed of how elections work here. In the 2024 election, there was another state that wanted to keep our current president off of the ballot. But that’s not what we do in Rhode Island. It’s really important that people are informed of how elections work differently across the nation.

Issue One: Why do you think that voters should have trust in election processes and results, specifically in Rhode Island?

Kathy Placencia: We have risk-limiting audits, so voters can see the results and know that they aren’t different from what they voted for. Our processes are open to the public and anyone can sign up to be an auditor for the risk-limiting audit. Because we have that open process, we can work on building trust.

Issue One: Why is transparency in election administration important in your job? How have you worked to bring more transparency to the world of election administration?

Kathy Placencia: It's important for people to see what happens behind the scenes, right? But it's not even like it is behind the scenes, because all of what we do is public; it's public information. Everything that we do is publicly accessible. We’ve made an effort to have these election information town halls. We visit different communities, and we talk about how elections are conducted in Rhode Island. The general public can come and ask questions about the process that we will answer for them. A lot of people walk away having a better understanding of how elections work and more trust in how elections function. This gives people the opportunity to view how we run elections and what is happening “behind the scenes” to help build that trust. We also make ballots available before the election, so the public knows what will be on them.

Issue One: In recent years, election-related misconceptions, conspiracy theories, and lies have proliferated. How has this impacted your daily work?

Kathy Placencia: We are always working on making information public to disprove the conspiracies. We are also inundated with public record requests which take a lot of time. They also often make an impact on our daily work and often take time away from other projects that are going on. We can be in the ballot proofing process and we have public record requests that we have to take time to respond to based on the timeline provided. Based on that, I think people fail to understand that we’re actually humans running elections. It can be a lot. I can’t just click a button and then all of a sudden, the public record request has been filled. That’s a challenge.

There is also recruiting poll workers. The Board of Canvassers has a time recruiting poll workers because of fear of violence, which goes back to the spread of misinformation, conspiracies, or the misconceptions around elections.

Our secretary championed a bill to protect poll workers so that if anyone makes a threat to the poll officials or to election officials will have the same punishment as if they were making a threat to a judge.

Issue One: Given all of these challenges, what inspires you to stay in this line of work?

Kathy Placencia: I absolutely love what I do. I love everything about the process. It’s gratifying to know that I’ve completed this major task and that I’m helping people. I’m helping the voters, I’m educating candidates and the public. We’re making a difference.

Issue One: In the United States, election administration is not centralized and 50 states have 50 different election administration systems. What are the key features or nuances of the system in Rhode Island?

Kathy Placencia: That we have three different tiers. We have the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office, the Rhode Island State Board of Elections, and the local Boards of Canvassers. Also, what we all do, what our roles are in running elections, and how we work in conjunction with each other. In Rhode Island, we have strong relationships with our stakeholders, which is important. We are all just a phone call away.

Issue One: Many people are surprised to learn that the federal government doesn't routinely fund the cost of running elections. Why do you think the federal government should routinely fund election administration?

Kathy Placencia: It costs money to run efficient elections. Elections are a critical infrastructure, and it's important to invest in them. Funding doesn't just magically appear, and it's not like it doesn't cost money. It's not just the staff, there are other investments that it takes to run an efficient election. Whether you're hiring additional poll workers, or you have to purchase additional poll pads or election equipment, or you have to put in an order for additional ballots. Anytime that there's a change to an election law, it's not just automatically funded. There are laws that impact the way that we run elections and it costs money, whether it's an upgrade to the system or something else. Changes to federal and state laws have a financial impact on elections across the board. We’re constantly working to make sure that our election equipment is secure and safe. We have to keep up with that technology and those costs.

Issue One: Outside of being passionate about running safe and secure elections. What are your hobbies? Or what is a fun fact that most people might not know about you?

Kathy Placencia: Probably that I'm a sunset chaser. I love to be by the ocean. I love to watch the sunset. I think it's the most peaceful, calming, and energizing thing that you can do, there's just something about that. Even when my kids are away they'll send me pictures of the sunset or the sunrise in the morning.

We're the ocean state, so anything by the water is 20 minutes away. I will often look at the time that the sun is setting, grab my kids, go for a ride, and sit by the water listening to the waves crashing. We just sit in peace.

Issue One: What is your favorite book or movie?

Kathy Placencia: Believe it or not, “My Cousin Vinny” — I think it's hysterical. I can probably recite Marisa Tomei’s character and everything that she says in the movie.

Issue One: Which historical figure would you have most liked to have had an opportunity to meet?

Kathy Placencia: Oprah would be number one on my list. I think that everything that she's gone through, and the fact that she can remain so positive. I would love to meet her.

Angelina Clapp is the campaign manager for the Election Protection team at Issue One.