LEWISTON – As a city election official, Tom Fredericks Jr. says he doesn’t have anything to hide.

Even so, he was irritated to learn that the city was going to perform a background check on him – and all election judges – prior to this May’s school budget election.

“It’s me and a bunch of retired ladies,” said Fredericks, 63, of Lewiston. “And they’re going to do a background check on us? I just find the whole thing stupid and a waste of postage.”

When he was informed of the need for a background check, Fredericks said he was no longer interested in serving as an election official. He said he understood the reasons behind it, but he was still not convinced it was right.

“I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and when I started they wanted a driver’s license and a Social Security card,” Fredericks said. “That was good enough then, and I haven’t changed. So I’m all done now. It’s all just so irritating.”

City Clerk Kathy Montejo said the checks are mandated by the City Charter.

“We should actually have been doing this all along, but we didn’t,” she said.

She mailed a letter and a form to election workers on April 3, telling them of the requirement and asking their permission to have police perform the check.

The City Charter bars any person convicted of any crime involving falsification in government matters, bribery, corrupt practices or obstructing governmental administration from holding office or a city job for two years, Montejo said.

The city regularly checks the criminal backgrounds of all potential city employees before hiring them, she said. The checks are performed by Lewiston police.

But Montejo said Councilor Tom Peters pointed out that the rule applies to other officials, including city councilors. The city has not performed background checks on councilors before, she said.

“But as I looked, I realized it applied to election workers, too,” Montejo said. “They are paid by the city and are covered by workers’ compensation insurance, so they are all subject to this. And apparently we should have been doing it all along.”