photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew addresses the crowd, which filled all the seats in the Douglas County Commission room, prior to the oath of office ceremony on Jan. 13, 2025.

County Clerk Jamie Shew has been elected to serve as the chair of a national board that helps guide a federal elections agency.

Shew will be the first representative from Kansas to serve as the chair to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission Standards Board, which assists the U.S. Election Assistance Commission – a bipartisan federal agency that helps improve how elections are administered in the United States. The Commission announced Shew would be the next chair during its annual meeting in Washington D.C. last week, according to a press release from Douglas County.

The board consists of state election officials selected by their chief state election official and 55 local election officials. Shew has served on the board since 2021.

Dwight Shellman, county regulation and support manager for the Colorado State Elections Division, will serve as vice chair and Kathy Placencia, director of elections for Rhode Island, will be the secretary.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is responsible for setting voluntary guidelines and tests standards for voting systems; certifying labs that test voting equipment; and providing research, data, and best practices on election administration.

Shew is serving his sixth term as county clerk and county election officer for Douglas County, and he was first elected in 2004.