High voter turnout expected at the polls on Nov. 6 means local election officials need more help.
Joe Mansky, elections manager for Ramsey County, said Tuesday that the call goes out every four years for more election judges.
“We always need additional judges in the presidential years,” Mansky said. The off-year elections are handled with existing judges who return regularly, he said.
The need for election judges this year extends statewide, too.
Ramsey County notes that state law requires employers to let election judges have the day off, without loss of pay. That means judges don’t have to take vacation or personal time.
Judges also can earn $8 an hour from the county.
Prospective judges are paid to attend a mandatory two-hour class on election law. They may, or may not, be assigned to their own precinct or city, Mansky said, depending on overall needs in the county.
In Ramsey County, they’re particularly looking for election judges who speak Hmong, Spanish, Somali or Russian.
The Secretary of State’s Office has more online information and a brochure about election judge duties.
I’ll be an Election Judge this year
It’s my first time. I worked the Primary, so I’m ready for the Big Show in November.
Big Show in Nov
And that it will be! Good on you for being a judge. I hope you decide to do it in the not so big years too!
Being an Election Judge
I’ve been an election judge for a number of years now. I love it.
The city I am in holds election every year, as our city elections are on the odd years. It is so great to get new folks in to be judges on the Presidential election years.
With the new boundaries this year and new precincts, etc. it will be even more important to have extra people to help voters who have gone to the wrong place to vote as well. We saw quite a few people at the Primary who needed to be sent to another precinct ,or were sent to the correct one.
It is also a great way to see the folks in your neighborhood if you are in your precinct, or see folks in other parts of your city if you are out of precinct.
Try it! You might like it!