Election Judges

AN ELECTION JUDGE, called “election inspector” in some states, or more frequently “poll worker,” is a citizen who is hired to work with precinct officials at each polling place to assist the conduction of voting on election day. This is different from a “poll watcher,” who observes the voting at a polling site on behalf of a certain candidate or party and notes any irregularities or violations of election codes. Multiple judges staff one polling place, and the local election authority (for example, election superintendent, county clerk, local election board, or governing body, itself) that appoints judges may have the discretion to hire additional judges if needed.

Election judges are usually selected from the list prepared by local organizations of major political parties, when law designates bipartisan composition of the board. In some cases, partisan affiliation may be required to apply for the position; in others, election judges are nonpartisan.

To become an election judge, a candidate must typically be a registered voter, 18-years-old or older, a resident of the county, city, or precinct within which the polling takes place, and not have a close relative running [Page 200]in the election. Applicants are usually required to attend training sessions and obtain certificates of completion, while some states require the ability to speak, read, and write English.

American democracy does not function without these poll workers. The typical course of work for judges on election day is as follows: report to, arrange, and open the polling site by 7:00 A.M.; sign in voters; provide assistance with voting equipment; administer election laws; monitor the conduct of the election throughout the day; close the polling site at 7:00 P.M.; and return all election materials to the election authority in charge after finishing the necessary paperwork.

For this long day's work, judges are usually compensated $60 or more per day, the amount set and paid by the local election authority. In hopes of appealing to potential volunteers, some cities such as New York, for example, pay $25 for attending class and passing the exam, and $200 for working on Election Day. However, they still do not attract enough poll workers to fill all the polls. In fact, the shortage of poll workers has been an enduring problem in the United States.

The problem received national attention in 2000 when many polls did not open on time because poll workers did not show up. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 created the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and mandated it to identify strategies to address the shortage of poll workers. The EAC, while estimating a shortage of at least 500,000 poll workers nationwide, reported that the problem was alleviated in 2004 with a full complement of poll workers in 12 states. However, the inability of under-trained poll workers (who are estimated by the EAC to be 72-years-old on average), to handle the new voting machines, posed another problem during the 2006 election. The EAC has been attempting to address the problem by promoting programs to recruit and train college students to serve as poll workers.

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