How to Become a Pollworker or Counting Center Worker

Supervisor of Elections
Brevard County, Florida

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How to Become a Pollworker or Counting Center Worker

Last updated 2/19/07

Who Are Pollworkers?

Pollworkers are the over 1,000 men and women who work at the precinct polling places on Election Day. They are a critical part of the election process and an important ingredient in its success.

Pollworkers comprise the Election Board of each polling place, which is headed by a Precinct Clerk. The other members of the Election Board are one or two Assistant Clerks, a Precinct Deputy, and as many Precinct Inspectors as are necessary to conduct the election.

Qualifications for Pollworkers

To be a pollworker, you must:

Be a registered voter in Brevard County
Be able to read, write and speak English
Not be a candidate, or the immediate family member of a candidate, on the ballot of the election that you are working
Attend pollworker training classes. For Precinct Clerks, six hours of training is required during a general election year, three hours before the First Primary and three hours before the General Election; for all other pollworkers, four hours of training is required during a general election year, two hours before the First Primary and two hours before the General Election. This is required by state law for you to be eligible to work. Additional training may also be necessary before other elections.
Be available and physically able to work on Election Day from 6 AM until all of the voters in line at 7 PM have had the opportunity to vote and the polling place has been broken down (usually 7:15 to 7:30 PM for small elections, later for large elections)

What Do Pollworkers Do?

In general, pollworkers are in charge of carrying out the election at the precinct level. The duties of specific workers may vary; however, as a whole, their duties are to:

Attend pollworker school before the election for training in election rules and procedures
Arrive at the polling place at 6 AM and setup for the election, making sure that all equipment, ballots, precinct rosters and all other materials have been received and are correct
Check the identification of each voter and verify that their name and addresses are correct and current, and accept changes in name or address if this information is not current
Direct voters who have moved out of the precinct to their new polling place
Demonstrate for voters how to use the voting equipment
Give assistance, if requested, to voters who are unable to read or write, who are blind, or who are otherwise physically challenged
Break down the polling place after the polls are closed and transport the voted ballots and other election materials to the appropriate collection location

How To Become a Pollworker

If you are interested in becoming a pollworker, e-mail us or call Donna Griffin at 633-2131 for more information.

Counting Center Worker Information

Qualifications for Counting Center workers are the same as for pollworkers except that the hours are less demanding. Counting Center workers perform two basic functions: 1) canvassing of absentee ballots and 2) receipt of the election materials from the precincts after the polls close.

Working under the direction of the County Canvassing Board, the canvassing function includes separating absentee ballots from their certificate envelopes, canvassing the ballots to ensure they are not damaged or otherwise unreadable in the AccuVote Tabulating Unit (ATU), and - in limited numbers - assisting with operation of the ATU operation. Canvassing workers may be asked to work during daytime hours on the Friday prior to an election as well as during daytime hours on Election Day. Workers will attend a brief training session (1 to 1 1/2 hours) to prepare them for their duties.

The Election Material Receiving Board operates on the Tuesday evening of an election to receive and account for the AccuVote Precinct Tabulating Unit, Ballots, and Precinct Registers. Duties will normally begin between 6:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. In the General Election, work may extend until 10:30 p.m. because of the volume of material that must be processed. Receiving Board functions include receiving the materials from Precinct Clerks and Election Support personnel. Those performing duties as runners may be required to handle relatively heavy bags in transferring and storing equipment and materials. Workers will attend a brief training session (1 to 1 1/2 hours).

Contributions of Counting Center workers are important to the election process. If you are interested in becoming a Counting Center worker, e-mail us or call our office at 633-2124.

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