Poll workers and empowerment

A day in the life of a poll worker can be dull as dirt, or busy and exciting. Occasionally, something crazy happens, like a chemical spill in the elementary school where the polling place is. It’s at that moment when the training, testing, and trust you give your poll workers either pays off or makes your day hell.

In research we did in 2012 and 2013 across 19 elections in 12 states, we observed hundreds of poll workers as they did their work and interviewed dozens of them after Election Day. We got some surprising insights about how poll workers view their role.

Read on. 

Poll workers and empowerment

So, poll workers come to work with an understanding of where they fit into the process of running an election. But where does that come from, exactly? We saw 4 dominant attitudes, and learned a lot about what triggers those attitudes.

4 attitudes

Poll workers come to their jobs with specific attitudes that tell us a lot about how they perform. We found 4 attitudes dominated:

I’m responsible for running the polling place. I need to ensure the safety and comfort of voter and maintain an orderly polling place.

I have to follow procedures. I will follow all the procedures correctly, as a way of running the polling place well.

I have to get the paperwork right (which is not the same as following procedures). Forms and reports work as a double-check on equipment tallies. That way, I can ensure that all the votes are accounted for.

I am responsible for my election. And “my election” includes the overall results of the election, broadly incorporating the polling place, the procedures, the paperwork, and the tallies.

Triggers

These attitudes come from personal history, of course, but also what the local election culture is like, who manages the poll worker team, leadership from the county clerk or election director, as well as what shape the voting equipment is in, local policies, and changes in laws.

Training, testing, and trust

How do you get poll workers with a range of attitudes to deliver a safe, secure, free, and open election for you?

  • Train them. In training classes, use adult learning methods like role-playing troubleshooting scenarios and experiential learning. The key is practice. Adults learn by doing.
  • Test them. Make sure poll workers know what is important, and how they can support your goals for running a good election.
  • Trust them. Provide 2 or 3 clear and specific guiding principles that, if all else fails, they can use to make decisions. For example, one of the states we work with asks jurisdictions to remind poll workers to make sure every voter gets to vote, even if they have to use a provisional ballot, by using the principle, “When in doubt, hand it out!” Which means, if you’re not sure that the person is not registered, give them a provisional ballot.

Avoid papering over problems with more forms

Finally, try to avoid papering over problems that your office encountered in previous elections with more forms, checklists, or reports. The more forms there are, the more chances there are for poll workers — most of who really do want to do the best possible job — to get things wrong.

What’s the minimum required, legally, to certify an election? What’s the minimum data you need to collect to see if your elections are running well and improving? Consider starting there, and then using the minimum documentation and the fewest forms you think you can get away with. Pilot out the minimal set in a small election and see how it goes.

Resources

P.S. Our course, Election Design, will be part of the Election Academy program offered remotely by University of Minnesota again in Spring 2018. (This is year 3!) It’s an elective with no pre-requirements. Other really cool people have taken the course and told us that they learned a ton that helped them do their jobs better. We’d love to see you there.

This was originally published in our Civic Designing newsletter. Subscribe on Mailchimp to get election design tips delivered to your mailbox.