“Leading a Successful Poll Worker Program” courses
A four-course series to help you lead an effective poll worker program.
What you’ll need
- Computer with internet access
- Colleagues whose responsibilities include poll worker recruitment, training, or management
Getting started
About this series
Focusing on recruiting, training, managing, and retaining poll workers can improve operations, preserve election security, and increase voter satisfaction and confidence. This self-paced, four-course series draws stories and insights from election offices across the U.S. so you can set your poll workers, and your voters, up for success.
Series Objectives
- Explore frameworks, strategies, generic resources, and case studies to understand the ins and out of poll worker programs
- Get inspired by local election officials from across the country as they share what works in their communities
- Integrate relevant poll worker practices to better serve voters in your area
Target Audience
- Local election administrators who oversee or manage poll worker programs
- Others looking for an overview of the full scope and impact of poll worker programs
Courses in “Leading a Successful Poll Worker Program” have been designed to support the Values and Standards of the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence. Each course is directed at helping you improve on one or more Standards or simply upping your game. For more information on the Values and Standards of the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, and how you can help build them, check out ElectionExcellence.org.
Courses
Explore all four courses or pick and choose which to sign up for. Keep in mind that content in each session builds on topics covered in preceding courses.
Poll Workers 101: Recruiting Poll Workers for Your Jurisdiction
By completing this course, you will:
- Develop a better understanding of poll workers’ demographics, motivations, views of their work, and concerns
- Learn about resources and new strategies for recruiting poll workers that are representative of your jurisdiction’s voting community
- Practice skills in written communication and strategy planning around poll worker recruitment
Poll Workers 102: Training Knowledgeable and Confident Poll Workers
By completing this course, you will:
- Learn about new strategies and resources for comprehensive and engaging poll worker trainings
- Consider accessibility, impartiality, and customer service skills as crucial elements to include in your trainings
- Explore the importance of poll worker training in dealing with unexpected or exceptional situations at polling locations
Poll Workers 103: Managing & Communicating With Poll Workers
By completing this course, you will learn how to:
- Plan for communicating with poll workers when they are in the field
- Use some tech tools to enhance your poll worker management and communications from recruitment through post-election
- Prepare your resources for supporting poll workers in their work
Poll Workers 104: Assessing & Retaining Experienced Poll Workers
By completing this course, you will:
- Assess your poll workers aptitudes, performance, and experiences at their voting location
- Build relationships and systems that encourage poll workers to come back
- Use post-election debriefs and surveys with your poll workers
Using the tool
How to register1. How to register
Courses in the “Leading a Successful Poll Worker Program” series are available on the Center for Tech and Civic Life’s online learning site.
To sign up, first create an account.
- Go to https://learning.TechAndCivicLife.org/
- Click on the “Register” button at the top
- Fill out and submit the form
- Go to your email inbox
- Find the “Setup your password for your account” email from no-reply@appsembler.com.
- This email may take up to 5 minutes to appear in your inbox
- Follow the prompts to set up your password
Then, select your first course!
- Sign in using your new login and password
- Navigate to the “Explore courses” tab
- Choose a course from the options
- Click “Enroll”
For troubleshooting help, email SelfPaced@TechAndCivicLife.org.
Sharing what you learn2. Sharing what you learn
The more you and your coworkers learn together, the more likely you are to be successful. To get others involved in your office, try a few of these approaches.
- Share at a staff meeting. Each time you complete a course, write out your biggest takeaways. Add a short section to an upcoming meeting agenda where you can share what you learned with your coworkers.
- Invite a coworker to take the course with you. Two (or more) heads are better than one! If you share responsibilities for your poll worker program, invite teammates to register for the courses. Schedule time to check in as you work through the series and cheer each other on!
- Offer a resource. The courses include numerous tools — from sample radio public service announcement (PSA) scripts to post-election debrief surveys and more. If it’s appropriate, share information about the resources with others in your office or area who might appreciate it.
3. Earning credit
Each course includes the option for a Certificate of Completion. Many states, state associations, and public service credentialing programs offer credit for taking courses with the Center for Tech and Civic Life. To find out if these courses are eligible, consult the governing body for your program.
Customizing for your officeCustomizing for your office
Any tips for customizing this resource for my office?
This series presents tools, generic resources, and strategies which may be suitable for a variety of offices. Some courses explicitly call out where tools, generic resources, or strategies may be particularly applicable for a jurisdiction based on size, resources available, language communities, and more.
How do I know if this resource is helping?
This series should offer some new tools, generic resources, and strategies for leading successful poll worker programs. Ideally, the resource should spark some new ideas for how to improve your poll worker program, and make participants feel more equipped to lead a successful program.
Which Values for Election Excellence does this resource support? Why?
Values for the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence define our shared vision for the way election departments across the country can aspire to excellence. These values help us navigate the challenges of delivering successful elections and maintaining our healthy democracy.
Alliance values are nonpartisan and designed by local election officials, designers, technologists and other experts to support local election departments.
You may find this tool especially helpful for this Value:
- Comprehensive preparedness. This series supports comprehensive preparedness by helping local election officials build and implement a successful poll worker program, a crucial component of effectively administering elections.
- Continuous improvement. This series supports continuous improvement by asking local election officials to consider assessment practices in their poll worker programs. Assessment can offer opportunities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of election operations over time.
To learn more about the Values for Election Excellence, and to see the full list, visit the Alliance website.
Sharing feedbackSharing Feedback
How was this resource developed?
This resource has been developed based on research from election experts and case studies from election offices around the U.S. Share your experience with this resource and improve it for your peers by reaching out via support@electionexcellence.org
How do I stay in touch?
- For the latest news, resources, and more, sign up for our email list.
- Have a specific idea, piece of feedback, or question? Send an email to support@electionexcellence.org
