I'm thinking of whether or not I should be a pollworker on CA's 2/5 election day...?

Question

I don't know whether or not to apply, I know the pay is $150 for working that one day for nearly 15 hours... I will have to miss schoool that day (I'm a senior in high school)

Can anyone tell me what my duties would be as a Precinct Officer or pollworker?

Answer 1

You would be checking the voter against the rolls for that voting precinct, issuing the voter a ballot, receiving the completed ballot and placing it in a locked box.  

It will also give you an insight into the voting process and (sadly) how many people don't have the foggiest idea of what they are doing at the polls. This will include those who inadvertently violate electioneering laws by trying to discuss the candidates inside the polling place, try to hand out campaign literature or wear buttons into the polling place that deal with a a particular issue or candidate.

I commend you for wanting to take an active role as a citizen and wish you all the best.

Answer 2

By all means, do it. It can be a lot of fun, and you get to meet a lot of people who live in the same area.

If you start getting involved now, you gain insight into how government works. You may even decide to work on a campaign or run for office. Too many people don't take advantage of the voting privilege. Your generation will soon be in charge so start now.

Answer 3

Why not, its good on ya that you would consider it, now that i know about the pay i might do it, seriously, what better way to learn than by taking an active part,nothing but good can come from this, its a free opportunity, use more yeses and fewer No's your life will be more full .

Answer 4

You don't say what county you reside in, but it's been in the news that various counties in CA desperately need pollworkers for the upcoming primary.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_792760...

Here's a page that goes over duties of a pollworker:

http://www.acgov.org/rov/workers.htm

Duties include finding voter names on the roster, assisting voters with special needs, answering questions about procedures, making sure no electioneering goes on within the designated areas, etc.

If you feel it's too much/you can't do it, don't sign up. It's frustrating for the people who staff the polling places to find someone if a poll worker flakes.

Lots of people, though, enjoy the process and enjoy meeting the voters. High school students have gotten good experience, get out of class, meet cool people. I know of one high school student who requested the polling place supservisor's permission to use the supervisor's name as a reference.

Tell your friends! Sometimes students can be placed together too.

Answer 5

Absolutely you should do it.  In fact your teacher should give you extra credit.  Oh and I worked as a

pollworker.  I checked registration, assisted when needed and handed out ballots.  At the end of the

night I helped count the ballots.  They will put you whrere they need you

Answer 6

You're probably going ot sit at a table and take people's information and hand out ballots or, more likely (because of your age), buttons or stickers.  It will be terribly boring but when you have to write those college entrance exams you can talk about how you independently sought out opportunities to work at poll stations and  your commitment to community service....(don't include the part about getting paid)

Yeah, you should do it.  It sounds like something that people usually volunteer for that you can get paid for, and it looks good on resumes/applications.  Also you get to miss a day of school.

Answer 7

There are a variety of things you might have to do, but none of them is particularly difficult. The main thing is checking people in as they come to vote, collecting ballots, or explaining how to vote. There might also be some manual labor jobs/duties such as moving boxes of ballots or clean up duties.

I'm not so sure about the decision to miss school for the job, but it would be a pretty easy way to earn $150.

Answer 8

I'm also a H.S. senior in Fresno County who signed up for the student pollworker program.  While I can't directly answer your question because I've never worked as a pollworker before and I haven't gone to the training session yet, I still strongly encourage you to participate. Even if it does turn out to be boring, I think it's a opportunity that's worth missing a day of school for.  It will give you first-hand experience in the democratic process that government or civics classes can't give you.

I've heard from a friend who went to a training session already that they showed a confusing video on how to configure a computerized machine. From what I remember (which is probably inaccurate), it sounded like the machine was for accepting paper ballots. (I don't know if the voting process in the county has gone completely digital, it may vary by precinct.) However, I personally doubt that student workers would have to deal with those machines much, nor that it's really that confusing to deal with them. If we do, I'm sure that we can always get help from a more experienced worker if we happen to get stuck.

If you want to do it, you need to call the Elections office ASAP because it sounds like the last remaing training sessions are coming up in the next few days. (Yet again, I'm guessing; there are likely some ones later next week; either way you shouId contact them soon.) I think that the County Elections office wanted interested students to register quite a while ago, but I doubt they'd turn you away now.

I'm glad I came across this question. Some of the previous answers have answered a lot of my own questions about what to expect as a pollworker.