Students find a way to participate in elections through polls

In the light of the historical presidential elections Between Vice President Kamala Harris and now President-elect Donald Trump, students found ways to get involved by serving as election judges through the College Student Judge Program.

The program, administered by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, allows students to register as election judges even if they are not permanent residents of Cook County by registering with their dorm or apartment address.

Election judges help manage the polling place they are assigned to and take care of equipment on election day, including preparing for the election, helping voters through the process, and wrapping everything up at the end of the night. The goal is to have a relatively equal number of Democratic and Republican election judges in each cohort, A said document of the CBEC.

Maggie Gonzalez, a third-year majoring in math, environmental studies and statistics, said she has been an election judge since she became involved in the high school equivalent of the college student judge program as a third-year in high school. She said the presidential election was her sixth election in Chicago.

To qualify for the college program, students must attend a college in Cook County, be able to read, speak and write English, have a minimum 3.0 GPA and be able to complete a training session before voting day, according to the CBEC website.

Ethan Jackson, a third-year political science major, said he has been working on the polls since a teacher in his sophomore year of high school encouraged him and his classmates to sign up. This year he worked as an election coordinator, the position responsible for managing election judges at each polling location.

Jackson said he thinks it’s important to have young people working at the polls. He said most poll workers are over 65 years old.

“As these people get older, it becomes more difficult for them to perform many of the tasks,” Jackson said. “As technology continues to innovate, it becomes more difficult for them to troubleshoot problems and keep up with changes in procedure. So by introducing a new generation of workers to the voting process – to the election process – it can make the whole process a lot easier and faster for voters.”

Gonzalez said she enjoys the job because it gives her the opportunity to be part of an important process in democracy.

“I am a big believer in the power of voting,” Gonzalez said. “I want to contribute to everyone having a good voting experience and the right to vote how they want.”

Raven Walters, a fourth-year multimedia journalism major, said she became interested in becoming an election judge when one of her fraternity members brought it up and encouraged others to get involved.

Walters said the application process was incredibly simple and the program only required one training session, which took place downtown at Block Thirty Seven and lasted approximately four hours.

Jackson said working at the polls has given him a better understanding of what happens behind the scenes on Election Day.

“I like how foolproof the process is,” Jackson said. “It taught me a lot about how secure our election process is in this country.”

Gonzalez said she always enjoys connecting with community members as an election judge and plans to continue volunteering well into the future, even after she graduates.

The day for election workers started at 5 a.m. and ended after the polls closed at 7 p.m., officially ending once all equipment was put away and other side tasks were completed, Walters said.

Jackson said his favorite part of working the polls is the connections he builds with community members and seeing how everyone benefits from their right to vote as Americans.

“I enjoy meeting all the voters and seeing their enthusiasm,” Jackson said. It’s always exciting when someone comes from the tabulator, where you submit your vote, and they turn around, take their sticker, hand you their phone and say, ‘Can you take a picture of me? I want my picture taken to celebrate voting.” So between that and the first time you vote, it’s a really joyful thing.”

Walters said some of her favorite parts of the day were interacting with community members and meeting people from outside the university.

“I feel like it’s important to understand your community a little bit, and I feel like I’ve connected with Rogers Park on a deeper level than ever before, despite living here,” Walters said. “I just think it’s a great way to get involved in the voting system and feel like you’re making a difference to, I guess, the country or the state.”

Gonzalez said that while elections can sometimes feel big and people feel like their vote doesn’t matter, she hopes she can help make every vote count.

“I can’t necessarily have the biggest impact on the general election,” Gonzalez said. “But working at the polls makes me feel like I can make sure everyone has the right to vote, which makes me feel like something that I really have no control over is just a little more in my power. control.”

As a Spanish translator, Gonzalez says she feels compelled to be involved as a resource for Spanish-speaking voters who might not otherwise be able to cast their ballots.

Gonzalez said she thinks voting is a privilege, and she wants to help more people recognize it, especially given the high stakes in politics right now.

“I think poll workers are there to make that experience as easy and enjoyable as possible for people,” Gonzalez said. “We’re trying to do it quickly. We try to make sure that all the employees are very friendly, so that people want to vote and people don’t feel like it’s a burden. They think it’s more a matter of realizing, wherever they want, how much of a privilege it is to be able to vote and they really enjoy doing that.”

Anyone interested in becoming an election judge through the college program or otherwise can visit the CBEC website for more information.