Kim Buckley retires as the administrator of elections for Madison County, today.

NEWS/TALK 101.5 FM, 93.1 FM & WNWS.COM visited with the ‘face of elections in Jackson and Madison County,’ to discuss her career and her future plans during a question & answer session.

Question: First, a little background information – where are you originally from, family, education?

Answer: Trenton in Gibson County – a wonderful place to grow up. I graduated from Peabody High School and later from Union University.

My husband and I have one son, who is a senior at the University of Tennessee, majoring in engineering.

Question: When did you start working at the Madison County Election Commission, and when did you become Administrator of Elections?

Answer: I began as a deputy in July of 1991 and was appointed as Administrator of Elections in March of 1998.

I think about our commission members … their integrity and how well they worked together. Also, our staff – we also had a very harmonious relationship – they all made me look very good.

Question: During your time you have seen numerous changes. What were the most noticeable?

Answer: When I began, our immediate task was entering each voter in a database because we were changing to computerized records. There was no Internet. Fax machines were relatively new and the county had the only one that I knew of, and it was in the building department.

As a result, county election commissions were more isolated and communication with the Division of Elections and other counties was totally dependent on the telephone, the U.S. Mail and the occasional training meeting.

Now, when the staff at the Division of Elections becomes aware of an issue, an email can be sent to all 95 counties immediately giving everyone guidance. I think this safeguards the process and brings about much more uniformity in elections.

Question: The 2020 Presidential Election produced a record voter turnout in November. Were you surprised by the number of early voters, and what was the experience like considering you had to deal with regulations regarding COVID-19?

Answer: We expected a huge jump in absentee requests for a ballot and also a large early voting turnout. That’s exactly what happened but the reality is that it was quite grueling. Staffing and training was a challenge because most of our election workers are past retirement age and were more vulnerable to Covid-19.

We had to consider every cubit inch of air inhaled and everything that a voter or a poll worker might touch. It took meticulous planning.

I will always be amazed and thankful for the workers who stepped up and worked during that time.

Question: When did you decide it was time to retire, and what are your plans?

Answer: It has been my plan for a number of years to retire in 2021, and I will be 62 soon and I would like to spend time enjoying church work, hobbies – reading, gardening and crafts.

(PHOTO: Kim Buckley)