There is perhaps nothing more quintessentially or patriotically American than serving one’s community as an election official. Two local election officials, Easby “Buddy” King of Gloucester, and Mary Marshall of Mathews, have decades of such service under their belts, with no plans to stop anytime soon. King, a Maryland native, retired from a 33-year career at Xerox in 1999 and moved to Gloucester along with his wife, Eileen. Shortly after moving, the two went to the registrar’s office to register to vote, and Eileen, who was then-registrar Carole Sekula’s cousin, happened to mention that her husband had served for 10 years as an election official in Maryland. “By the time I left,” said King, “I was signed up to work the polls.” At that time, the registrar’s office was on the court green, he said, and it was equipped with three desks, one for Sekula, one for her only employee, and one for a volunteer, who happened to be Sekula’s mother. “There was barely room to turn around,” he said. ...