Anyone ever work election polls?

[Frwinkley]

My retired husband applied for a poll position in PA. They assigned him the position of "judge of election". He has never done any poll work before!! After reading the 60 page handbook, it seems like a position that should require someone with a bit more experience.

Does anyone have any insight or experience as a poll worker? We're thinking (hoping) that they just made a mistake in his assignment.

 

[goofyernmost]

A lot of times the titles are a bit bigger then the job itself. It's been my experience, at least here in NC, that if one doesn't feel that they are comfortable with the job assignments all they need to do is ask for a different job. I don't know your husbands education level, but there is almost no one with experience being a "judge of election". They have to decide on whether or not they think a person is of a level of life experience to handle it, but they are flexible. It's really, from what I remember, a person the others go to if they have a problem that they are not able to handle. Even the judge has someone above them in these situation that they can consult with.

 

[amcnj]

I have. We had mandatory training beforehand, and fortunately most people at the polling location had previous experience. I am unfamiliar with the “Judge of election” position though. A 60 page manual does sound a bit daunting!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Yep, for almost a decade. However I’ve never heard of a judge of election. Is that like the head poll worker at the precinct?

 

[NotUrsula]

"Election judge" is the standard job title in my area for election workers. In practice, what it means is "person who compares signatures and hands out ballots." When we vote here, we have to sign for the ballot, and the Election Judge must "judge" that the signature on the voter log and the signature on the voter registration appear to match, before allowing the voter access to a live ballot (or voting machine access card, if the precinct uses electronic voting machines. Election judges get paid very little, and they must work the day of the election and the day before, for about a 14 hour shift each day. There is a couple of days' training before the first election one works, mostly to explain the minutiae of the way the Supervisor of Elections office works; explaining the actual job probably takes no more than an hour.

 

[georgina]

I feel bad for anyone thrown into that position without training.

Judges of election in PA are in charge of picking up election supplies ahead of the day, making sure the room is set up correctly, handling any issues that come up as the other workers are processing voters, responsible for filling out the final paperwork and driving the results to the local center after the election is finished. It is an extra long day and they get paid more than the other workers.

all the workers are in charge of checking signatures when they are working that task area (we rotate), it is not the judge unless there is an issue.

 

[DopeyDame]

Where I live, all of the poll workers are called election judges. There are "head judges" that sound more like what some previous people are describing, but literally anyone who is working at the polling place is called an election judge.
I was an election judge in 2020 for the first time - it was awesome! My county has a 3 hour training that you have to do, and then they seemed to intentionally pair up more experienced workers with the new people. For most of the day I was the person who checked people in and pointed them in the direction of the ballot-givers. Then for a little while I was the person that stood next to the electronic marker/computer thingy to help if anyone had problems.

It was really a great experience and I highly recommend everyone do it - it was a fantastic way to participate in our democracy and contribute to the community.