Northeast Times: Poll Workers, Poll Watchers Help Elections Run Smoothly

Everyday Americans keep our elections fair—and they take this responsibility seriously. According to Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy, a voter education group and SecureVotePA partner, about 40,000 Pennsylvanians are called upon twice a year to ensure our elections run smoothly.

Poll workers affiliated with both parties are responsible for overseeing the operation of polling places across the state, making the administration and protection of the process a bipartisan responsibility. As a poll worker, you gain visibility into the process by witnessing the system in action for yourself, Cristella says.

Furthermore, these poll workers are our dedicated friends, neighbors and co-workers—who collectively dedicate countless hours before, during and after Election Day to ensure all of us have the opportunity to make our voices heard at the ballot box. They know it’s up to them to safeguard the many tried-and-tested systems we have in place to make sure votes are cast fairly and counted correctly.

Jeff Greenburg, a senior adviser on election administration at the Committee of Seventy who also served 13 years as the director of elections in Mercer County, explains that another great way to participate in the process is as a poll watcher. Like poll workers, poll watchers are our friends and neighbors dedicated to ensuring accuracy in our elections.

Poll watchers are selected by the candidates and parties and certified by the counties. As their title implies, they are there primarily to observe the election process.

“The more people are involved in the electoral process,” Cristella and Greenburg write in a joint column, “the more they can see for themselves how free, fair, safe and secure that process is.”

Read their entire piece in the Northeast Times, South Philly Review or Fishtown Star.