Without election officials, there'd be no vote

More than 175 people put in about 5,000 hours through the months of September and October to train, prepare and staff an election and be sure each vote cast is properly accounted for.

"The dedication of our election officials ensures our borough residents have the opportunity to vote," Dillon said. "We could not offer the same voting opportunities we have today if we truly didn't have any volunteers. We'd have to look at a whole different way of voting."

Of the hundreds of people who volunteer to become a part of each election, two names stand out as champions of the electoral process in the Mat-Su Borough. Lois Feaster and Gerry Keeling have dedicated countless hours over several decades to making sure the votes cast are accurately represented.

Feaster, a Butte resident since 1958, has served as an election official at the Butte voting precinct for more than 42 years -- before ballots were cast at the Butte fire hall, before the convenience of the Accu-Vote machine, and before growth in the borough split it into 33 voting precincts.

Keeling, the first baby born in the Matanuska colonist's first hospital building, has served as an election official in the Palmer City precinct for 25 years, and has worked on the borough's canvassing board to review questioned and absentee ballots for nearly 20 years.

Keeling and Feaster are both strong believers in the importance of voting, and speak readily about the duty each resident of the borough has in making decisions about the future of their community. As well as being involved in the election process administratively, both Feaster and Keeling are avid voters.

Feaster, prior to moving to Alaska with her husband, worked as an election official in her home state of Pennsylvania. There, she said, election officials aren't volunteers -- they, too, must be elected. She successfully ran for the position, but later stepped down when it was determined her position as a state employee conflicted with duties as an election official. That didn't stop her involvement.

"I still went and picked up people all day and took them to the polls to vote," Feaster said. "That's something they don't really do around here."

Feaster said she had to wait a year before casting a vote in Alaska, but she became an election official shortly afterward and has stayed involved since. She's seen several changes in the process at the borough. In the early days, borough residents who wanted to vote had to travel to the Borough Building in Palmer to cast a ballot. Later on, as the population grew, more precincts were added, including one that included much of the eastern side of the borough -- Lazy Mountain, Butte and Knik River.

"When I first started out, we voted down Plumley Road," Feaster said. Today, Lazy Mountain voters stop at the Lazy Mountain Bible Church to vote and Butte and Knik River voters cast ballots at the Butte fire hall rather than Plumley Road -- a much nicer arrangement, she said. "It's really nice out here -- we never have to worry about setting up the polls, the firemen do all of that."

With the Accu-Vote machine, Feaster said, election day runs much more smoothly. No longer are election officials asked to tally their ballots before they leave for the evening -- the tallies are now done by the machine.

"It's just simplified elections so much," Feaster said. "I remember one time it was 5 a.m. when we left. The Accu-Vote machine has simplified things so well, you don't have any question about anything on the ballot."

The willingness to count ballots until 5 a.m. is part of what makes Feaster's service commendable, Dillon said.

"It is people like Lois, who have a deep commitment to their community and serve in the election, that make this all work," Dillon said. "Lois is a wonderful example who's given her community 42 years. I highly respect her."

Keeling, too, has seen a lot of change at her precinct and beyond. Now the most populous precinct in the borough, it takes a lot of work to make things run smoothly at the Palmer City precinct. Each election day, Keeling said, she's up at 4 a.m. to get ready for the day ahead. Part of that readiness is bringing supplies to the polling place -- this year, she said, she had 17 bags and boxes to bring in to the borough gymnasium. She and her team stay at the precinct until about 10 p.m. on election day during borough elections; longer during presidential elections, because of a higher voter turnout.

But Keeling's duties begin long before election day, and this year, she's still working on the 2003 borough election. During the two weeks prior to the election, Keeling served as an election official at one of the borough's early voting stations, a task she's taken on for several years. After her work on election day as the Palmer City precinct chair, Keeling starts her work as the chair of the borough's Canvass Board, that cross-checks and verifies each of the questioned and absentee ballots that come in. This year, that process took about 13 days and, with the recent announcement of a recount, is expected to take at least three more.

"Gerry is a trusted member of the election team and is respected by the public," Dillon said. "I rely on her to ensure the canvassing process runs smoothly."

Although a belief in the process is partially what has driven both Feaster and Keeling's commitment to serve as election officials, it's also a matter of community involvement and civic duty.

Feaster said she's only missed voting and working at her precinct one time in 42 years. She was pregnant with her daughter and had planned to work the August state primary election, but her daughter had other plans -- she arrived early and Feaster had to ask for a replacement.

While she was an at-home mom, she's focused on volunteering at her children's schools, as a den mother and organizer for more than 35 years with the Boy Scouts and with other charitable groups. Working on election day, she said, is one more way she can give to her community.

"I just like to help if there's help needed," Feaster said. "If I'm a part of a community and there's something I can do to support that community, that's what I want to do."

Keeling said although she holds different jobs throughout the election process, all are equally important.

"Each plays into the whole. Each mandates equal responsibility, equal carefulness, equal voter opportunity," Keeling said. "I personally believe in the collective wisdom of the collective voters. And I also truly believe that it is the responsibility of each citizen to try to become informed and to participate in the election process."