Election chair person enjoys serving country

WASILLA -- "The division of elections couldn't be the division of elections without all these volunteers," said Carol Thompson, the Alaska Division of Elections' Southcentral region elections supervisor

recently.

Across the state, more than 2,500 people gather during each statewide election year to go through training and learn how to be an election official. It's a job in which political views are left at the door and a welcoming attitude and careful adherence to the rules are two of the primary job qualifications.

It's a job that Wasilla resident Doris Hagadorn enjoys. She has worked at elections in Wasilla for a number of years and, for a few years before that, helped out with elections at Tanaina Elementary. Several years prior to that, Hagadorn said, she and her co-worker helped out when asked by election officials in the village of Nondalton.

Hagadorn said she sees the work less as a job than a chance to give back to a nation where she's proud to live.

"I've got pretty deep roots of patriotism," Hagadorn said, mentioning numerous family members who fought in World War II when she was a child. "I learned at an early age what freedom meant."

She was recently asked to serve as the election chair of the Wasilla No. 1 precinct, a request she said was quite unexpected.

"When they ran out of people to chair it, guess who they asked?" Hagadorn said. "Me! And I was really scared."

Although she said she was surprised to be chosen for the seat, Hagadorn met the challenge head-on, studying any Alaska election-related information she could find. When you're making decisions that relate to who may or may not get elected, the rules are clear, and adhering to them is very important.

"When we work together, when one person makes a mistake, it belongs to all of us," Hagadorn said.

But as much as she relies on the guidance of the Alaska Statutes to let her know she's giving a questioning voter the right answer, Hagadorn said she relies on the team of election volunteers she works with.

"We have had such a great crew of people to work with," Hagadorn said.

Thompson couldn't agree more. She said she has been lucky to have a dedicated team of people to work with around the state.

"Every one of them, even if they're new or have been there for years, have given a piece of themselves," Thompson said. "They are given a tremendous task for one day. It's a tremendous amount of responsibility, and I just can't say enough how much I appreciate them."

Each election worker, Thompson said, is asked to go through about 3 hours of training before the statewide primary elections are held in August. During the primary, election workers are at the polls for between 15 and 16 hours, and then work another 15- to 16-hour day on election day.

Although Thompson said her legion of election workers has largely been made up of seniors in the past. But more and more younger people are stepping in to fill the open positions, she said, a trend Thompson is happy to see.

"It's just really important that younger people are recognizing that they're going to have to fill these shoes later on," Thompson said. "People are stepping up. They're becoming more aware of the importance of it."

Wasilla's city hall was chosen as the polling place for the precinct Hagadorn has worked at the past several years, and Hagadorn complimented the staff for being very pleasant and supportive to both the election workers and the voters who visit the polling place throughout each primary and general election day.

But most of all, Hagadorn said, she complimented the team of people that make an election work -- those who work beside her on election day and every person who makes time to cast their ballot. She mentioned husbands and wives, mothers and their children, young and old and from cultures across the world who all take the time to visit the Wasilla polling place.

"It's teamwork that makes elections possible," Hagadorn said. "And the voter is part of that team."

In a time where patriotism is still soaring and people are tuning in to what's going on in the nation, Hagadorn said visiting the ballot box is an important expression of that patriotism.

"We were proud of the people for coming at the last election -- and so many did come," Hagadorn said. "It's a tiny little way you can do something for your country."