I applied today. Also to be a ballot adjudicator. Temp work in my county.
I applied to be a poll worker. I don’t know if I’m selected yet.
I have been a poll worker in the past-- have done it probably 3 elections out of 5 since I was 18. I did it every single year for years and years, then didn’t for a few years because I had a job that made it difficult-- got back to doing it when I changed jobs, but didn’t do it every single election, then stopped again after I had a baby. Started again when he got to be about 10.
Right now, though, I’m teaching religious school on Tuesdays, over zoom, and it’s really hard to get subs for the platform, so I probably will not volunteer this year.
Yeah. I signed up for poll work around January of this year. It is not fun — the pay is bad and the shift is worse: 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (with an hour for lunch). And still worse, the slick metal folding chairs kill my back, so I’m useless the next day.
However, I’m sticking it out til after November since I want the big election to go as smoothly as possible. I’m worried about a clusterfuck day, with overwhelmed polling locations, and uncast mail-in ballots. I’m actually serving as a poll manager this time (one of the two poll workers who are nominally in charge of the polling place, and who run the cast ballots to HQ at the end of the day). It’s not a great situation, since my experience is limited — just three minor elections, and I don’t know how to work all the equipment.
Presumably there’s a shortage of decent poll manager candidates.
My Zoom training session was two days ago, and I definitely did not learn enough. Fortunately, the are dozens of on-line manuals and videos; I’ll be hitting those before attempting my on-line test.
I’ve bought a padded, wood folding chair, and am hoping it will be better for my back.
I’ve been a poll worker on and off since the Bush Admin. This last primary I worked the Absentee voter counting board, far away from the voters. We were prohibited from having access to phones, ballots came in spurts and it was such a long boring day. I’m pretty sure I’m skipping it this year, as long as they can find another Dem, I’m out this year.
I looked into signing up to be a poll worker for this election, because I have nothing but time now, but my initial reaction was, “Holy PDF, Batman! That’s a lot of material!”
I get that it is a serious responsibility, I just wasn’t expecting it to be quite so rigorous. I will probably still sign up, in any case.
The rigor of the training might depend on what machinery is used. (In St Louis County MO, we use the Verity System. A whole lot of the training is step-by-step instructions for unpacking and setting up scanners, printers, and tables. It’s no more complicated than hooking up a new computer monitor and printer, but you have to learn how to do it the first time.
And 95% of using those machines is idiot level. But there are a few tricks that at least one of the election workers should remember how to handle.
I mean to really say It makes me glad to hear of people applying for positions as poll workers. THANK YOU!
My township is small, republican majority I’m over some of these people. I thought I ought to offer my experience fwiw elsewhere in the county. Still I think I’m out.
I’m running a precinct in Minnesota. I’ve done it since 2002 (with a few years off). I would dearly love to sit out this election, but I shave most mornings and decided that I couldn’t look myself in the mirror if I didn’t go out and make sure that things were done right in one precinct, at least. At least we vote in a sensible way, with pens on a paper ballot. We have a balky vote marker machine for the occasional visually disabled voter, but I can’t imagine expecting everyone to vote that way.
I’m vaguely amused that I, as the best-paid person in the precinct, get paid as much as Arby’s apparently offers its new hires. I’m surprised that we get as many good people as we do, but I guess that there are still some suckers like me who believe in public service.
It’s a very long day (5:30 am to maybe 10 pm before I get home after delivering the paper ballots and vote counter and other materials to county elections), and at the end of it as I suck down a martini I wonder why I do it. Still, almost every year I come back because it’s either that or grow a beard, and my wife won’t have that.
I am signed up to count absentee ballots. I have done it several times. Did live polling before that.
Yessiree.
I signed up a month ago and haven’t heard anything back yet. I don’t know how to interpret that.
I have no desire to be a poll worker, but I would like to be an enumerator and keep forgetting to call my local election office to ask how and where I can sign up.
The info is probably on-line at the local gov website.
Same here (Maryland). I emailed the board of elections earlier today asking them for a clarification. If they can’t use an old retired accountant to count their beans, I’m going to ask the local Democratic Party what kind of help they can use.
I’m scheduled to start “election worker” training next week. I’ve worked the polls on election day in the past but this time since CA is 100% mail in, I have no idea what we’ll be doing. We had to commit to working Oct 31 - Nov 3 though.
Ok, learned a little while ago that I didn’t make the cut. They need far fewer judges this year because there will be far fewer polling places.
At least that’s what they told me.
Here in Maricopa county we’re having early voting starting October 7th. There will be a number of Voting Centers in the county and any county voter can go to any center, get a ballot printed out individualized for him/her, and cast it at the center.
Also, anyone on the Permanent Early Voting List, or who has requested a mail-in ballot for this election, will receive a ballot in the mail and can bring it (in the signed return envelope) to any Voting Center and deposit it or, of course, mail it in. In the primary election last August, 70% of votes were PEVL or absentee.
Come election day the only difference is a lot more voting centers will be open. With all this, there is a need for a lot more workers than the usual poll workers and judges for one day. I put in a form and requested either T-tech, the guys who plug in and set up the Ballot on Demand printers and Site Books (which allow the poll workers to verify registration) along with the routers and switches for connection via MoFi, whatever that is – or Ballot Courier, the guys who run the ballot boxes from the Voting Centers to the registrar’s office and bring needed supplies out to the Centers.
Instead, after looking at my resume I am to work in the phone center, answering questions from voters, pretty much what I was doing for twelve years until I retired. It makes sense from their point of view, I suppose, but I had to go into volunteer mode, It’s not about me – it’s about my service.
Quoted for truth. We do our duty and hope that our superiors know what their job as well as we know ours.
I applied and got a call telling me where and when to arrive. I have to be there at 6:00 and voting begins at 7:00. Training wasn’t mentioned at all - maybe they’ll do it all in that hour? There was no other mention of training. The person calling talked mostly about how everyone brings food to share.