Precinct Official Recruiting

HOW PRECINCT OFFICIALS ARE SELECTED

To be considered for a precinct official position complete and return a Precinct Official Application. Once the Board of Elections has received the completed form a call will be made to the applicant letting them know we have received their application.  The completed application will then be forwarded to the Chief Judge at the applicant’s home precinct.  The Chief Judge will contact the applicant when a position is available.

Each voting place is staffed with a CHIEF JUDGE, a DEMOCRAT judge, a REPUBLICAN judge, one or two PROVISIONAL/TRANSFER Assistants, an EQUIPMENT ASSISTANT and allotted ASSISTANTS. The Judges are appointed by the Board of Elections based on political party and staff recommendations. The Provisional/Transfer and Equipment Assistants are chosen among the assistants. Assistants should represent both parties and diversity of the precinct, whenever possible. Only one member of a family may serve as a precinct election official/assistant within the same precinct.

CHIEF JUDGE

The CHIEF JUDGE is the head official and is in charge of the polling location on election day.  The Chief Judge is responsible for contacting the voting place, custodian and the other officials to make arrangements for each election. The Chief Judge recruits and manages Election Day Staff, assigns tasks and delegates jobs to the judges and assistants.  The Chief Judge is also responsible for handling Election Day activities including mailing returns after the election and the opening and closing of the precinct location.

JUDGES

The JUDGES work closely with the Chief Judge and are responsible for conducting the election in the Chief Judge's absence. They must sign all official documents and serve on a panel to resolve any challenges.  The Judges assist the Chief Judge with setting up the voting machines, attending to the voters, counting the votes and securing the building.

All judges are appointed by the Elections Board for a two-year term beginning in August of odd-numbered years and every two years thereafter.

PROVISIONAL/TRANSFER ASSISTANT

The PROVISIONAL/TRANSFER ASSISTANTS are responsible for handling provisional and transfer voters. They must attend training sessions and become proficient in the laws governing these voters.  The Provisional/Transfer Assistants should have the ability to type 40 words per minute (wpm).  They assist the Chief Judge and work with the voters on Election Day in a friendly and respectful way.  The Provisional/Transfer Assistants are responsible for maintaining the provisional and transfer paper work and ensuring that it is returned to the Board of Election office in the appropriate envelopes and containers.

EQUIPMENT ASSISTANTS

The EQUIPMENT ASSISTANTS are in charge of setting up and starting the voting panels and basic troubleshooting during the day.  They are in charge of gathering all items from the voting panels to be returned to the Board of Elections on Election night. They assist voters with using the voting panels and help the Chief Judge.  The Equipment Assistants will lead the precinct team in returning voting panels to the storage area and returning the room into pre-setup condition.

ASSISTANTS

The regular ASSISTANTS serve as team players at the precinct. They must have excellent customer service skills and aid the voters through the voting process.  Assistants help with closing and returning the voting panels and straightening up the precinct location.

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Elections are always held on Tuesday. All polls are open from 6:30AM until 7:30PM.  Poll workers must work 6AM to 8PM or until the precinct is closed.

On the day before the election poll workers must help set up the precinct, learn their job responsibilities for the next day and check machines.

Officials must be in the voting place at 6:00AM and remain until all votes have been counted and documents signed. General Statute 163-67 requires that all officials remain at the voting place for the entire day. Regular assistants may work a half day but, no less than, a 7-hour shift. No precinct election official may leave the voting place.

SPECIAL TRAINING

GS 163-46 requires Officials to attend training sessions conducted by the Board of Elections prior to each major primary and general election. (Assistants are not required to attend training sessions but are instructed on their duties by the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge and the Judges are issued an INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONDUCTING ELECTIONS notebook at the required training session. The Provisional/Transfer Assistants and Equipment Assistants are issued a PROCEDURE notebook at their training session. They receive training concerning specific issues affecting the upcoming election. Precinct election officials are paid to attend these training sessions in addition to their Election Day compensation.

BENEFITS

Precinct officials receive a modest stipend, resume experience and an opportunity to grow in the Board of Elections Organization.

QUALIFICATIONS

Persons appointed to these positions must be registered to vote in Mecklenburg County, of good repute, and able to read, write and follow direction.  No person shall be eligible who holds any elected government office.  No person who is the wife, husband, mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or sister of any candidate for nomination or election may serve as a precinct official during any primary or election in which such candidate participates.  No person who is the wife, husband, mother, father, son, daughter, brother or sister of another precinct official may serve in the same precinct.  The Board of Elections may remove any precinct official for misbehavior, neglect of duty or insubordination toward the precinct’s Chief Judge.

If you are interested in becoming a Precinct Worker, click here.