Matthew Fitch

Executive Director

Matthew Fitch has been involved in conducting elections since 1990, when he was an analyst and supervisor for the I.B.T. Election Office. He has held a wide array of independent supervision roles for such organizations as the I.B.T., LIUNA, SEIU and many others. As co-founder of Merriman River Group and AlohaVote.com, Matt has developed proprietary VoterEdge software using barcode technology based on the FileMaker Pro platform that has proven to be a significant time and money saver for clients while improving accuracy and record keeping. Matt also consults on polling, media and field organizing for political candidates and has managed dozens of successful campaigns. He resides in Hamden, Connecticut and maintains an office in Los Angeles, California.

Bill Broberg

Senior Project Manager

William “Bill” Broberg has more than 15 years experience in all phases of Election Administration. His extensive experience at the Senior Project Manager level includes the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as well as project management in the corporate arena and with various other elections, including multiple election cycles in the State of Hawaii. Bill’s resides in Lexington, Kentucky and enjoys spending considerable time in Kailua, Hawaii when on island.

Cira de Castillo

Hawaii Client Services Manager

Cira de Castillo specializes in creating & developing foundations, framework, and documentation and communication platforms for election projects.  Cira, a resident of Kauai, offers fifteen years public and private sector election administration experience.

Luke Henrici

Director of Technology and Data

Luke Henrici joined Merriman River Group in 2005 and is in charge of the Data and IT operations for MRG and AlohaVote.com. Luke has provided phone and opinion research service to a wide variety of political, labor and corporate clients, and has served as an election supervisor for a number of Merriman River elections. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Luke resides in Ashfield, Massachusetts.

Rachel Gillette

Legal Counsel

Rachel Gillette is our in-house Legal Counsel and Project Supervisor. She served as the non-TITAN Coordinator for the 2006 IBT Officer Election and was responsible for coordinating data and establishing eligibility guidelines for members from locals that were not on the Teamster's main data system. Rachel is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Quinnipiac University School of Law. A resident of Oahu as a child, she currently resides in Lafayette, Colorado.

Jorge Simpson

Project Supervisor

A retired Master Sergeant with the United States Marine Corps and a graduate of the Marine Corps University & Westfield State College, Jorge Simpson has been lending his organizational skills to Merriman River since 2006. In addition to coordinating logistics, Jorge is in charge of all in-house Spanish translation, interpretation and transcription. He resides in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dennis Henderson

Project Supervisor

A retired IBM Senior Software Specialist, Dennis has been involved in Local and State Elections since 2000, including the MTA and KIUC. Bringing together his extensive software knowledge and election experience, he has advised on both ballot design and ballot coding. Dennis lives in Honolulu.

Walter Nakasato &

Ralph Takazawa

(photo coming soon)

Project Supervisors

Retired IBM employees, who bring years of experience to this project, Walter and Ralph are specialists in Hardware and Testing. Walter and Ralph also bring almost a decade of service each in both State and Local Elections.  Both are residents of Honolulu.

Bob Harrington

Software Developer

Bob Harrington joined Merriman River Group as a consultant in 2002. Bob serves as a database advisor, webmaster and technology consultant for MRG and AlohaVote.com. Some of Bob's other projects have included on-site training and application development for small to medium size companies, featuring a home owner law program, marina management software and a loan software package. Bob floats between Gotha Lakes, Florida and Park City, Utah.