How to sign up to be an election judge, a poll watcher or a poll greeter during the elections in Tarrant County?
Election judges are an important part of the elections process. Whether you want to be an election judge, an interpreter or a poll watcher — all of these functions are to help ensure the democratic process is at work for fair and just elections. So what does an election judge do?
What does an election judge do?
Election judges need to be knowledgeable about Texas election laws. They settle disputes about election law. They function to maintain law and order at the polls. Every large meeting or group of individuals has to have a presiding officer to keep things running smoothly. You can learn more about election judges in this article “What does an election judge do and who gives them that gig?”
Tarrant County Needs You
There were 15,000 brand new voter registrations in Tarrant County in the last two months. Since the March Primary, Texas has had close to half a million new voter registrations.
Tarrant County has over 1,000 Deputy Voter Registrars. That means we will have new faces showing up to vote and we need workers to ensure that these new voters know what they need to do to exercise their right to vote. Here is how you can sign up to be an election judge, poll worker or poll greeter in Tarrant County.
Election Judges and poll workers are needed in Tarrant County
Ms. Vera Roberts, Election Judge Liasion for the Tarrant County Democratic Party. She is signing up individuals to become election judges. Election judges can be from any party but we are recruiting judges, provisional judges and alternative judges. Vera is also recruiting poll workers such as translators and other positions. New Election Judges will be provided compensated training prior to the election.
The General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. The hours are 6:00 am to 8:00 pm and you will be compensated for your time.
Election Judges can serve anywhere in Tarrant County as long as you are registered to vote in Tarrant County.
If you are interested in serving, please email Vera your name, address, phone number and the maximum distance from your home you are willing to travel. Email this information to electionjudges@tarrantdemocrats.org. You will receive an email back from Vera with important information and dates and times for training.
What are the functions of poll watchers?
Poll watching is important! It guarantees the integrity of our elections and cuts down on unfair practices such as voter intimidation, voter misinformation and mishandling of ballots by election officials. These are not hypotheticals — we have witnessed all this and more in recent elections.
Poll watchers are designated by a campaign to sit inside the voting room and observe the conduct of the election.
A good poll watcher is someone who …
- lives in and is registered to vote in Tarrant County.
- can read and abide by the Poll Watcher’s Guide published by the Texas Secretary of State.
- can read a short training document outlining common irregularities and violations that poll watchers should watch for.
- is not afraid to call out the election judge if they see something fishy and won’t back down if the judge tries to intimidate them.
- can be without their mobile phone for several hours at a time — devices with recording capability can’t be used inside polling places.
- can commit to at least 2 four- to five-hour shifts of poll watching at the same polling place — the number of poll watchers a candidate can appoint is limited, so we need a 2-shift commitment from our poll watchers.
If you live in Texas House District 92, here is how you can help HD92 candidate, Steve Riddell and his campaign team with poll watching. These are all volunteer positions.
Poll watch in Arlington
Poll watch in Bedford
Poll watch in Euless
Poll watch in Hurst
What is a poll greeter and how do I sign up?
A poll greeter is different from a poll watcher. A poll greeter can perform various functions such as greeting voters, providing voters information about the candidates, and rallying voters to their cause. They usually sit or stand outside the polling place, greet people as they arrive and ask them for voters to commit to voting for a particular candidate or position. This is a great way to make sure that Democrats coming to vote for Beto or another Democratic candidate also know about important down-ballot races or to encourage voters to vote a straight Democratic ticket.
Tarrant County is coordinating poll greeting during early voting every single day from October 22 through November 2. There will also be shift on election day November 6th during the hours that the polls will be open.
Here are a few locations you can sign up to volunteer to be a poll greeter:
Poll greet in Arlington
Poll greet in Bedford
Poll greet in Euless
Poll greet in Hurst
You can also sign up Tarrant Countywide and find a location via these links here:
Early Voting Schedule:
Monday, Oct 22 — Friday, 26: 8am-5pm
Saturday, Oct 27: 7am-7pm
Sunday, Oct 28: 11am-4pm
Monday, Oct 29 — Friday, Nov 2: 7am-7pm
Sign up for 1 hour shifts here —> early voting Poll Greeting
From 7 am to 7 pm we need you. Sign up for a shift within any polling location you choose in Tarrant County. Sign up here → election day Poll Greeting
Now onward to election day! See ya at the polls!
