The Jefferson Review Voters Guide

Special Edition

The Jefferson Review Voters Guide is designed to help voters hear directly from the candidates seeking to represent Jefferson County. Candidate answers are published as submitted so readers can compare responses in each race.

Editor’s Note: Candidate responses are not endorsements by The Jefferson Review. Answers are provided by the candidates and are shared for voter information.

Jaclyn Riebold

Political Party Affiliation: Republican

Short Candidate Bio

I am a proud wife, mother and Christian. I have held various leadership and management roles in Healthcare Administration for approx. 20 years, currently owning my own Healthcare Provider Consultant Company. I have been heavily involved in local politics since 2021, through those endeavors and hearing from concerned citizens, I became an Election Judge and served in my first Election in April 2022. Since then I have been promoted to an Asst. Supervisor Election Judge and served on the verification board since the April 2024 Elections. I enjoy serving my county and giving back to community that I was raised in.

Why are you running for this office?

I became an Election Judge in April 2022. In the years, that I have been involved with the County Election process, I have learned a lot, but still hear many residents around the county who lack trust in the process and that bothers me. I want our county to believe in their local government and election process. If the people of Jefferson County graciously choose me as their next County Clerk, I plan to honor their trust by working hard to increase voter turnout, ensure every eligible voter’s voice is heard and counted, and maintain a full level of transparency to the residents of Jefferson County.

What experience best prepares you to serve in this role?

My years of leading teams, training new employees, writing operating manuals, working overtime to meet client deadlines, etc. With the area of Healthcare Administration I have worked in specifically for the last 10 years, that has required the knowledge of state law and compliance regarding Health Insurance Plans in all 50 states and applying that knowledge to the providers I serve. The County Clerk is no different, it is just a different subject matter. The role and office is guided by State Law and Statute whether that be with Elections, Liquor or Solid Waste Licenses that the office handles. I will use my many years of professional knowledge and skills and apply that to this office.

What is the most important issue facing Jefferson County right now?

I think the most important issue facing the county is the lack of public engagement with their local government and school boards, along with the low voter turnout. Some will say that we get the government we deserve, due to the low voter turnout. I understand that people are busy and can not make every meeting, but especially when it comes to our Elections, voting has become more accessible with the 14 day no excuse early voting. People must engage their elected representatives and have open dialogue, so we can work together to build a stronger county. Local government and elections are the most important and impactful to our everyday lives and together we can find better solutions to keep the community engaged and informed.

What is one specific thing you would like to accomplish during your term?

I would like to focus on increasing the voter turnout, while building trust within the community.

How would you describe your approach to serving taxpayers?

Open and Accessible, with honesty and accountability.

What experience prepares you to serve as county clerk?

Well this role is Administrative in nature, so leading and working with the staff in the office would be much the same as I have in my past 20+ years of professional office experience. Adding that I am the only Republican Candidate that has worked both as an Election Judge and on our Verification Board, understanding more of the current processes in place.

How would you ensure elections are secure, accurate, and trusted by the public?

To ensure secure elections, I would continue to work with our Sheriff Dept to utilize the off duty deputies to assist with the chain of custody of the ballots and ensure the tabulators are certified regularly. Accuracy will come from the verification audit after each election (by state statute) to be random to ensure no one knows ahead of time, which races or polling locations will be audited and we will continue to increase the percentage of precincts audited as we have the manpower and budget to do so. As far as Public Trust, I will work tirelessly to ensure every voter knows of their rights as a voter, educate the public of how they can be engaged in the process, encourage more to become election judges to see the elections first hand, and they can observe in person and again hopefully move to an online video option to reassure the public that Jefferson County Elections can be trusted.

What can be done to improve voter confidence in local elections?

The best way to increase confidence is to Educate the community on the processes and current statute, so they can understand our Election process here in Jefferson County. This can be done by having civic assemblies in local high schools, town halls with the public, enhancing the county clerk website and/or social media outlets.

How should the clerk’s office communicate election deadlines, sample ballots, and voting information?

Repeated communication in all forms (and that can be accommodated by the department budget). Using the County Clerk website, having highlighted information on the county website homepage, social media outlets, local newspaper ads, mailed information to all voters.

What role should technology play in making public records and election information easier to access?

Any information that we can legally share online through the county website should be made publicly available for transparency to the residents. The current county clerk page on the county website has a wonderful amount of information regarding voting information, election results and archives, and links to the MO Secretary of State website to check voter registration information.

How would you handle concerns from voters who are skeptical about election processes?

Education and reassurance on how our Election Processes work in Jefferson County and how they differ from other areas of the state and country. I believe the greatest amount of distrust and skepticism comes from information people hear on the national news from other states or our new residents that have moved from other areas of Missouri.

What is one improvement you would make to the clerk’s office?

In an effort to be more transparent to the public and ease concerns of election fraud, I would like to explore the options of using the cameras currently in place in the council chamber room, to be on and streaming during the verification board audit. I think this will go along way in enhancing public trust and showing that our Elections are secure and handled with the utmost of Integrity.

Do you support hand counting all ballots? Why or why not?

I support following the Missouri State Law, which currently supports using electronic tabulators and a hand count audit verification. The audit is required to be a minimum of 5% of polling precincts, currently the clerk's office averages 7% of precincts counted. If time and manpower allow, I would like to increase that audit number, as a mechanism to assure ALL voters of the accuracy of the results. This is the people's office and in talking with the people, about 70% or more have stated they want to keep the tabulators in place, I believe we need to respect that in order to continue building trust and increasing voter turnout.

Why should voters choose you?

I believe voters should choose me, due to my experience currently serving in the county elections, as well as my professional experience. More over, I will be a public servant for ALL of the VOTERS in Jefferson County and not biased based on political party. Every registered voter will know that their Vote is their Voice and their Voice will be treated with absolute respect, dignity and professionalism.

Voters Guide Notice: This candidate profile is not a paid advertisement. Candidate responses are published as part of The Jefferson Review Candidate Voter Guide and are presented in the candidate’s own words.

The opinions and statements expressed above are solely those of the candidate or campaign and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jefferson Review, its staff, sponsors, or partners. Publication of a candidate response does not constitute an endorsement.

Candidate responses were submitted through The Jefferson Review Candidate Voter Guide questionnaire. Responses are presented in the candidate’s own words and have not been rewritten by The Jefferson Review. Formatting may be adjusted for spacing, readability, or display.

Questionnaire Note: Candidates were invited to respond to the same questionnaire for this office. If a question was left blank, The Jefferson Review may mark that answer as “No response provided.”