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Elections Defined: The Roles of Poll Workers vs. Poll Watchers

It’s easy to confuse poll workers with poll watchers. Here's an explanation.

By Wendy Underhill  |  June 20, 2024

Elections Defined Video Series

This series of short videos features NCSL Director of Elections and Redistricting Wendy Underhill talking about some of the key steps of election administration you may not have heard of—from ballot curing to voter list maintenance to what it means to be a poll worker, and everything in between. View the complete series. 

It’s easy to confuse poll workers with poll watchers. Poll workers are the nearly 1 million friends and neighbors who serve temporarily during elections. They check voters in at polling places and show them how to use the voting equipment. In some locations, these folks are referred to as election judges or inspectors or poll officers.

Poll watchers, on the other hand, usually represent their political party at the polls. In most cases, they receive training on proper procedures in advance. While they cannot interfere with voters or voting, they can alert an election official if they see anything unusual.

Election officials sometimes quip that they’d love to have the poll watchers become poll workers the next time around.

Ready for more about election administration? View the complete series for info on the topics below. Still have questions? More details can be found on these and other topics through NCSL’s election resources.

  • Ballot Duplication.
  • Ballot Collecting.
  • Ballot Curing. 
  • Provisional Ballots.
  • Pre-Processing Ballots.
  • Poll workers vs. Poll Watchers.
  • Post-election Audits.
  • Canvassing and Certification.
  • Results Reporting.
  • Voter ID.
  • Voter Registration List Maintenance.
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