A lot of people are worried about election fraud these days. Me too. But I think staffing issues (number, quality, and training) represent a bigger...and certainly a far more widespread...threat to the integrity of our elections than Diebold. In addition, is undoubtedly easier to commit fraud in a precinct that is understaffed and/or staffed with marginally qualified and/or marginally trained elections workers.
First, let me clarify some terminology, as it varies from state to state. In my state, a Precinct Official is someone who works at the polls during elections. They are paid (nominally) for their time, but most of them are not employees of the board of elections. It is much more like a volunteer position than a job...no one does it for the money. Precinct Officials serve two-year terms. They must attend a 2-hour training class each year, usually work 2-4 election days per year (depending on how many runoff elections there are), and help set things up at the poll the night before the election. Precinct officials include Chief Judges, Judges, and Precinct Assistants:
The
Chief Judge has primary responsibility for the conduct of elections in his or her precinct. They make all the logistical arrangements for each election. On election day, they are responsible for all election activities in their precinct and for resolving any problems that may arise. Chief Judges must sign the official election results at their precinct.
Other Judges work closely with the Chief Judge. In the absence of the Chief Judge, a Judge may be appointed to serve as Chief Judge during a given election. Judges must also sign the official election results at their precinct. If a voter challenge occurs, the Judges and the Chief Judge resolve the challenge as a panel.
Precinct Assistants may be hired to serve at the discretion and direction of the Chief Judge, who assigns their duties and trains them at the pre-election planning meeting. Precinct Assistants do not have to sign election day returns.
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In my state, one judge representing each recognized party is required in order to have a polling place open in a given precinct. The party chairs are supposed to recommend their judges, but usually too few party members volunteer to be precinct officials, so party chairs rarely recommend enough judges to keep all of our precinct polling locations open.
I am in my first term as a precinct official. Because of the shortage of experienced volunteers, I am already a Judge, and my elections supervisor has already asked me if I will be a Chief Judge in my next term.
Although I am registered as an unaffiliated voter, I am technically "the Republican Judge" in my precinct. Our elections supervisor addresses the shortage of party-affiliated volunteers by using unaffiliated voters to fill any open Judge positions needed to keep a precinct polling place open on election days. (I think of us unaffiliateds as "Type O blood donors for democracy" in my state...seems appropriate, given that elections are the lifeblood of our democracy, and us Type O donors are particularly valuable here, because not enough citizens with other "blood types" are willing to donate enough "blood" to keep democracy alive.)
One of my long-term goals is to get legislation passed that prohibits anyone from running for office in my state unless they have served one term as a precinct official. I don't think anyone should be able to use our elections to get themselves a job if they aren't willing to help support our elections first. I always ask candidates if they have ever served as an election official, and I weigh that factor strongly in deciding who to vote for.
If I belonged to a party, I would certainly propose a resolution that no one could hold a party office unless they had served as a precinct official.