Election official retires after serving 40 years

It was a one-issue, one-candidate "election" and assistant election commissioner Karen Browning cast the only vote: "Yes to Proposition Retirement."

After nearly 41 years with the Johnson County Election Office in Olathe, Browning officially retired May 22; a reception in her honor is planned for 3 to 6 p.m. June 17 at the Election Office, 2101 E. Kansas City Road, southeast of Bass Pro, where Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh will pay tribute to her service.

Also speaking will be County Chairwoman Annabeth Surbaugh and Johnson County Election Commissioner Brian Newby.

Browning said she always will look back on her career with great fondness.

"My time at the Election Office was an incredible experience, full of hard work, passion for elections and democracy," she said. "It has been a great career that I have always enjoyed, but it's time for a new chapter in my life and to take it easy."

In the past 40 years Browning has:

• Worked in more than 200 Johnson County elections, including 11 presidential elections;
• Served under six of Johnson County's eight election commissioners and 32 county commissioners; and,
• Watched the county's voter registration increase almost fourfold.

She said she welcomed the end to hand-counting thousands of paper ballots when the county switched to touch-screen voting machines. Counting paper ballots is time consuming, she said, and computers bring quicker results and less stress.

Browning's passion for the importance of voting was instilled in her as a child.

"My folks always talked about voting and how important it was," she said. "I started when I was young. Voting was already an important part of my life."

That led to her passion for doing her best as an employee at the election office. Newby said Browning was a walking encyclopedia and office historian. She has complete records on every election since she has been with the county.

"If anyone has a question about a past election, Karen is the person to ask," he said.

"She has given so much to our county and to our voters; she provided the best return on tax dollars that could ever be imagined," Newby said. "She leaves with the distinction of being the most effective election office employee ever in Johnson County."

In Browning's first presidential election Nov. 5, 1968, a total of 88,314 of Johnson County's 100,610 registered voters cast their ballots. In her last presidential election, Nov. 5, 2008, a total of 285,001 of the 364,441 registered voters cast ballots.

Her first job at the election office was as a key punch operator since all voter registration cards and reports were typed by hand.

"When we processed registrations, we typed them into the books that went to the polling places," she said. "We typed men on one page and women on another, which I found very interesting."

Newby said Browning has been instrumental in the evolution of the voter registration process, which she has overseen for many years.

In 1978, Browning was named election clerk supervisor followed by election manager in 1979 with primary responsibilities for voter registration and list maintenance.

She has served as assistant election commissioner the past 27 years.

Browning also has overseen Census and mapping operations, and knows Johnson County geography like the back of her hand, since any "visible ground feature" might someday be needed as a precinct boundary.

Although the election process has experienced significant changes over the years, Browning said one thing has not changed. The integrity of the ballot, even from a touch-screen voting machine, is still held sacred, and that requires rigorous adherence to the office's confirmation procedures, she said.

Browning has mixed feelings about leaving Johnson County public service, but admits she will most miss the people.

"Elections begin and end with people," she said.

In retirement, Browning plans to spend more time with her family, and continue to volunteer in her many civic and church activities.

Her family includes three sons, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

"We will miss her and wish her well," Newby said, "but we are gratified to know that she will always be a phone call away to advise us if we have a thorny issue. We even offered - threatened, I guess - to continue equipping her with a Blackberry so she could still be in the e-mail loop and give us guidance."

So far, no response from Browning.

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