Improving Election Poll Worker Training: Reflections on Implementing New Ideas for Measurable Success

Abstract

Poll workers have been called the “street-level bureaucrats” of democracy. Voters’ evaluation of their performance shapes nothing less than citizens’ perception of the legitimacy of the democratic process (Burden and Milyo, 2013). There are a number of reasons that training poll workers can present quite a challenge. Local election administrators may face considerable difficulty translating recommendations from national organizations such as the Elections Administration Commission (EAC) into practice because of the varying requirements of state, local, and federal law. Therefore, each jurisdiction must develop a unique approach when implementing changes to the training of poll workers. How, then, do elections administrators best prepare this group of workers to competently run our polling locations? In this “Tales from the Trenches” piece, we offer the story of how one local administrator did just that in Williamson County, Texas. Along the way, we discuss how she identified the shortcomings of the existing poll worker training program, implemented improvements, and the lessons she learned in the process.