Resources

This article highlights the complexity of designing and implementing poll worker training programs given the varying requirements of federal, state and local laws. Authors examine the unique practices of administrators in Williamson County, Texas, hearing first-hand and how they identify shortcomings of poll worker programs and implement improvements based on lessons learned.

This three-part report explores the usability of electronic poll books for poll workers and voters. It includes (1) a landscape analysis of e-pollbook usability within polling locations, (2) a usability test plan that election officials and vendors can implement, and (3) a checklist of usability and accessibility features for procurement and assessment.

This resource is an open-access election management toolkit with calculators and tools to help election officials plan polling place resources, minimize wait times, and optimize poll worker and equipment allocation.

This guide walks election officials through how to make election technologies such as online voter registration, polling place apps, and electronic poll books accessible to people with disabilities. It introduces the POUR principles as a framework for evaluating accessibility, recommends a layered testing approach for election systems, and points to free accessibility tools.

This paper analyzes the quantity and quality of poll workers, highlighting that performance, rather than numbers alone, is a key factor in voter satisfaction and the efficient conduct of elections.

This report provides guidance for local election officials on how to collect and use data to manage polling place resources more effectively, including diagnosing congestion and allocating voting machines and poll workers.

This tool uses queueing theory to calculate the minimum number of service stations (poll books, voting booths, etc.) at each step of the polling place process to meet a target maximum wait time. It offers both a web interface for simple models and a downloadable Excel spreadsheet for jurisdiction-wide planning across hundreds of polling places simultaneously.

This paper examines the relationship between individuals' public service motivation (PSM) and their work sector (public, nonprofit, or for-profit) preferences. Authors find that PSM is a moderate indicator of an individual's sector preference, notably, as PSM increases, the desire to work in the public sector also increases, relative to the for-profit sector. The findings of this paper bear potential implications for understanding the motivations of election officials and poll workers in serving the public.

This paper examines the role of poll worker characteristics, experience and training to explain variations in 'residual vote rates' throughout California. Authors find that a young and experience poll worker workforce, hands-on training and take-home references, alongside other factors help reduce errors. These findings bear important implications for poll worker recruitment and training, among other things.

This course series connects election officials to frameworks, strategies, resources, and best practices related to designing and administering poll worker programs. This series is free and consists of four courses focused specifically on recruiting, training, managing and retaining poll workers.

This paper analyzes whether the preferences and actions of local election officials are impacted by their method of selection - election or appointment - with a focus on the experiences of LEOs in Wisconsin. Authors found notable differences in support of voter access and concerns about ballot security and administrative costs, among other things.

The City and County of San Francisco Department of Elections maintains publicly available training resources for poll workers on their website, including informational videos and an up-to-date poll worker manual. Topics covered include poll worker duties in opening a polling place, assisting voters, and closing a polling place.