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Rusty McLouth joined the KCEB team in February as the Republican Judges Supervisor. Rusty's job includes recruiting and training 500 to 750 election judges per election cycle.
Rusty was born in Lansing, Michigan but calls  Apache Junction, Arizona his hometown. He spent six years in the Navy as an Electronic Warfare Technician. He has seven children and three grandchildren. He graduated from Mesa State College with a BA in Psychology, along with graduating from Emporia State University with a MS in General/Experimental Psychology.
When asked why he wanted to work in elections, Rusty said, "I have always been interested in the election process and have a very strong belief in the non-partisan nature of American election workers." Rusty also shared how he is looking forward to helping play a part in administering fair elections. KCEB staffers are glad to have Rusty as part of the team!
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What Happens Before Election Day?
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Absentee voting kicked off on February 25. Voters have been mailing in ballots and coming to the Election Board office to vote in-person for the April 8 election. In-person absentee voting ends at 5:00 p.m. on April 7. All mail-in absentee ballots must be received by the Election Board no later than 7:00 p.m. on April 8.
Training classes began on March 8 at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Election judges are being trained on the electronic pollbooks and their various job functions. The election judges are looking forward to using the electronic pollbooks again for the third election in a row.
Electronic pollbooks are charged and programmed prior to Election Day. It takes a team of KCEB staffers to load each electronic pollbook. Two tablets are then sent to each polling location for Election Day.
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Employee Spotlight
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Many of you know the familiar face of Deborah Sams an Election Judges Supervisor at the Kansas City Election Board. Deborah was born and raised right here in Kansas City, Missouri. She grew up with five sisters and one brother. As a child, she would go fishing, hunting and fly model airplanes with her father. She even climbed to the top of apple trees and would sit at the top and eat the apples. What she enjoyed most about her childhood was how she had the freedom of playing outside unsupervised and not having to worry about her safety. Deborah attended Raytown
 High School, where she enjoyed her favorite subject English and being a part of her drama class and choir. Before coming to KCEB, Deborah held the position of Executive Secretary at three different well-known companies. She joined the KCEB team in 2002 as Election Judges Supervisor, the position she holds today. "The one thing I like most about working for KCEB is the relationship I have developed with the election judges," said Deborah. She also enjoys the versatility of her job position. The entire month before an election is Deborah's busiest time of the year. She speaks at 30 election judge training classes that occur almost every day. On Election Day, Deborah's primary job is to answer calls from the election judges and solve the issues they are facing. She also enjoys visiting the election judges at the polls. "I am fascinated with learning the election process behind the scenes. It is truly a different picture on the back end of the voting process," said Deborah. One thing you may not know about Deborah is that she is an outstanding decorator. She helps decorate anything from the staff birthday board to centerpieces on tables for special events. Deborah describes herself as genuine, fun, and creative. Deborah has served at the Election Board for 12 years. "I really appreciate the election judges and their civic duty to the election process. Many thanks go out to them," said Deborah. In her life, she is most thankful for family and friends. KCEB is truly thankful to have a dedicated worker like Deborah as one of its team members!
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