The work of local election officials evolves with nearly every election cycle.
These behind-the-scenes heroes of our representative government ensure voters know how and where to cast their ballots and that all eligible votes are counted. Their ranks include, among others, clerks who check voters in and manage all activities in the polling place, and equipment operators who assist voters and run scanners and tabulators.
They all work in a nonpartisan or bipartisan fashion.
Once, local election officials, or LEOs, were seen as preparing for just one big event each year: the general election. But as voting technology has evolved—paper ballots, voting machines, electronic poll books—so has the expectation that LEOs be technology experts.
With the emergence of threats such as phishing, ransomware and denial of service attacks, LEOs have adapted and become cybersecurity experts and communications specialists.
On top of all this, LEOs exercise another crucial function: training poll workers.
Across the country, LEOs train thousands of poll workers each year, ensuring that the people running our elections and processing our ballots are knowledgeable and capable of maintaining accuracy and security.
But relatively little information is available about how poll workers are trained. Until now.
In a new NCSL report, LEOs from across the country—from jurisdictions big and small, urban and rural—offer insights about who develops the content for their training programs, who conducts the classes and what challenges the trainers face.
A few key takeaways:
- Poll worker training will make or break an election; well-trained poll workers run smooth, accurate elections, and a smooth, accurate election is a good election.
- State laws and guidance on poll worker training are only a starting point; customizing or designing training at the local level is common.
- Different poll worker positions often require different trainings, and hands-on training is often useful for everyone.
The training programs these LEOs create and administer do more than just help Election Day run smoothly. They encourage trust in elections, and poll workers spread trust throughout their communities.
Read the full report here.