Election Office: Staff and History
Staff Introduction
The Election Office was originally a city office. Early news articles reflect colorful Election Commissioners including one who took the radical point of view that women should be allowed to serve as Members of the Election Board. County elections were administered by the County Clerk. In 1947, the elections duties of the two offices were consolidated into one county office.
The permanent staff at the Election Office is proud to serve the citizens of Shawnee County. The Election Systems Specialist is Cindy Collins, who, with the help of Edie Zarger, the Assistant Systems Specialist, maintains and programs the equipment for use during the election. Jane Fernkopf helps place election board workers. The three of them support the polling places on election day. The Voter Services Director, Penny Prokop and her Assistant Karen Gingrich, supervise our public service division and assist candidates. Janette Gully and Deborah Brock help process voter registrations, cancellations and confirmations. All of these people provide a solid foundation of experience and capability. The office is also lucky to have additional temporary employees that return year after year. These employees are Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters who are dedicated to serving all the people of Shawnee County.
Special mention must be made Craig Bourne, the Assistant Election Commissioner. Craig came to the election office from the Secretary of State’s Office. His knowledge, experience and judgment are indispensable.
Elizabeth “Libby” Ensley Deiter is the Shawnee County Election Commissioner. Ensley Deiter was first appointed by Bill Graves, then Kansas Secretary of State, in 1992 to fill an unexpired term. Since then, she has been reappointed five times. Her last appointment was by Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh in 2010 for a four-year term.
During the last eighteen years the voting equipment has been upgraded from mechanical lever voting machines to optical scan vote tabulation devises and now include touch screen voting which provides privacy fo those with disabilities. The National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act have both been successfully implemented in the office, and Advance Voting has become the voting method of choice up to 23% of those people who participate in an election.
Commissioner Biography
Elizabeth “Libby” Ensley Deiter
Shawnee County Election Commissioner
IACREOT President
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Advisory Board Member
Kansas County Clerks and Elected Officials Association
Elizabeth “Libby” Ensley Deiter is the Election Commissioner for Shawnee County, Kansas, the jurisdiction for the Capital, Topeka, Kansas. Libby was first appointed in 1992 and has been appointed five more times by two different Secretaries of State.
She is a member of the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers (IACREOT) and began facilitating conference sessions in 2002. She has served as Election Committee Co-Chair, Education Chairman and was Chairman of the Chancellor’s Certificate of Public Administration Program. During that time, she reorganized the certificate program to increase participation and has achieved the Advanced level of the Chancellor’s Certification Program. Elizabeth is the elected President of IACREOT.
Libby is also active in the Kansas County Clerk’s & Election Official’s Association where she was named Election Committee Chairman for five years, served as President of the Northeast Kansas County Officials Association, was appointed to the Kansas Reform Advisory Council and the Kansas Election Standards Task Force. On this Task Force, the Shawnee County provisional ballot process became the basis for the statewide standard. Elizabeth is on the State Board of Directors for Kids Voting Kansas, represented IACREOT at the Pew Center for the States 2008 conference, and is a member of the US Election Assistance Commission Advisory Board. She has made many presentations at conferences and has published several articles. Awards received include the Kansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee Woman of Distinction Certificate, Living the Dream Political Action Award, Topeka Bar Association Liberty Bell Award, and has graduated from the Leadership Greater Topeka and Leadership Kansas programs.
Outside of elections, Libby is a graduate of Washburn University with a B.A. in Political Science and therefore a great fan of the ‘Fighting Ichabods.’ She is an avid bicyclist and in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 biked across Kansas. She is also active in her church and is recently married with two children, five stepchildren and one grandchild.