Seven Things I Learned During Poll Worker Training

A few weekends ago, I attended poll worker training! I have wanted to find a way to get involved in politics (rather than ranting about issues to friends and listening to my liberal podcasts, heh), and becoming a poll worker seemed like a pretty good idea. After all, there will be a shortage of poll workers this year with COVID-19, considering many poll workers are older and more at risk for complications if they get the virus. I thought that becoming a poll worker would be a good way to get involved and provide a service for my community.

Let me tell you, my head was spinning after the three-hour training I attended. There is so much more to being a poll worker than I ever expected—so many checklists to follow and processes to know. It’s a big job, when you think about it, as poll workers are in charge of helping to make sure people can vote their ballot and getting that ballot to the proper elections office so it can be counted.

Here’s what I learned while going through this training:

1) A poll worker’s main job is to make sure no voter leaves without casting a ballot. Maybe not all poll workers operate this way, but they should. This point was particularly hammered home in my training that anyone who comes to a polling precinct to vote shouldn’t leave without voting (unless they’re at the wrong precinct). This is the duty of the poll worker, to help facilitate the voting process, and that’s what every poll worker should want to do. I realize that I have the privilege of being a white voter so I am not disenfranchised at the polls in the way BIPOC are, but I wanted to begin with this statement because no poll worker should limit a voter’s right to vote. Period, end of story.

2) You can vote without ID. I knew a little about provisional ballots before my training, but not much. A provisional ballot is a ballot that isn’t cast until questions regarding the voter’s eligibility are resolved. For example, if you don’t bring your ID with you to vote, you can still vote via provisional ballot! You should not be excluded from voting just because you do not have a specific form of identification. Voter ID laws are inherently discriminatory, but that’s a discussion for another day.

3) You can vote even if the poll worker says you can’t. This is another instance of being able to vote via provisional ballot. There are certainly cases in which a poll worker may tell you that you cannot vote. Perhaps the system shows that you already voted or your name isn’t showing up in the system as an eligible voter. There are also instances where a person’s voting eligibility is challenged, either by another person or a poll worker. In every case, you can still vote by provisional ballot. Don’t leave the polling site without voting your provisional ballot! (And no, this doesn’t mean someone is about to vote twice, if the system shows they already voted and then they also vote a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot will be spoiled if there is clear evidence that the voter did already vote.)

4) You can ask for another ballot if you make a mistake. This was brand new information to me! I didn’t know that I was legally allowed to ask for another ballot (up to two times) if I made a mistake on my ballot. I always thought that the ballot I was given was my ONE AND ONLY BALLOT DO NOT MESS THIS UP. Apparently, I didn’t need to be so precious about it. 😉

5) Every polling place has an ADA-compliant voting machine for individuals with disabilities, and you can also ask a poll worker to help. I had never wondered about what the voting process is like for someone with a disability, which just speaks to my own able-bodied privilege. How goddamn privileged to not have to wonder about ADA compliance! Every precinct has an ADA-compliant voting machine for people with disabilities and in my county, we use the AutoMARK machine that allows for voting via audio ballot, using a Braille touchpad, and using a sip/puff tube. Another option is to ask a poll worker to help. In this scenario, two poll workers of different parties will come with you to the voting booth and help you vote your ballot.

6) Every poll worker has a specific job. I mean, perhaps I knew about this somewhat but it was really interesting to learn about all the different positions and how they function. First, there’s the clerk and assistant clerk (I trained to be an AC). The clerk is the head honcho and the AC helps them out. The clerk handles any of the more complicated cases (i.e., the voter doesn’t have ID, the voter isn’t in the system, etc.) and deals with the provisional ballots. Then, there are four other positions:

• Deputy – This is the person who greets you at the door and directs you to where you need to go. They also handle putting up election signs outside and taking them down, as well as maintaining order outside the precinct.
• Inspector – Once you’re inside the polling precinct, you’ll go to the inspector who checks you in and gives you a voting pass. If they can’t check you in for some reason, you will be sent to the clerk.
• Ballot distribution manager – After getting checked in, you’ll be directed to the BDM who will take your voting pass and then provide you with the correct ballot based on that ticket. If you mess up your ballot, you’ll see the BDM to get a new one. Before the polls open, the BDM has to count up all the ballots the precinct has received and note that on a specific audit sheet. Then, after the polls have closed, the BDM has to count up the number of ballots remaining and subtract that number from the number of ballots originally received and then cross-reference that with how many ballots were submitted into the voting machine. The number of ballots submitted + the number of ballots left = number of original ballots. Make sense?
• Machine manager – This individual makes sure all of the ballots are correctly read by the voting machine. They are not allowed to look at the ballots (even if they have to rescue it from getting jammed). At the end of the night, the MM is the one who delivers all of the ballots that were fed into the machine to the election office.

7) The poll workers work looooong days. I was astounded to learn how long a poll worker’s day is! Poll workers must arrive at the precinct by 5:30AM to begin the set-up process and are legally not allowed to leave until the polls close at 7pm—but their day isn’t done then! Not only do they have to stay open until everyone who was in line when the polls closed has voted, but then they have to complete the closing procedures. For a small, local election, the poll workers are probably only there for an hour after the polls closed. But for a big election, like a presidential election? They’re probably there for hours after the polls close. (Not only that, some of the poll workers also have to take ballots and paperwork and precinct equipment to the appropriate location after they officially close the polling location.) WHEW! So, the next time you see a story about people waiting in line to vote way past 7pm, remember the poll workers. They have been working for almost 15 hours at that point, and their day isn’t even close to done.

In the end, I didn’t get called to be a poll worker for our local August 18th primary. Well, I did but when I got to the polling location, the clerk didn’t have anything for me to do and sent me home, lol. I’m glad I went to this training and learned more about the voting process from the “inside.” It gives me a deeper appreciation for our poll workers and voting as a whole.