Students find ways to get involved in elections through polls

Facing the historic presidential elections between Vice President Kamala Harris and current President-elect Donald Trump, students found a way to get involved by serving as election judges through the College Student Judge Program.

The program, run by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, offers college students the opportunity to register as an election judge, even if they are not permanent Cook County residents, by registering at their dorm or apartment address.

Election judges help manage the polling place to which they are assigned and look after the equipment on Election Day, including preparing it before the election, helping voters throughout the process, and locking everything up at the end of the evening. According to a document from CBEC.

Maggie Gonzalez, a third-year math, environmental science and statistics student, said she has been an election judge since she became involved in the school’s equivalent of a student judge program in her third year of high school. She said the presidential election is her sixth in Chicago.

According to CBEC, to qualify for the degree program, students must attend a university in Cook County, be able to read, speak and write English, have a grade point average of at least 3.0 and be able to complete a training session before voting day. website.

Ethan Jackson, a third-year political science student, said he has been working on polls since his high school sophomore teacher encouraged him and his classmates to sign up. He spent this year working as an election coordinator, a position in each polling station responsible for managing election judges.

Jackson said he thinks having young people at the polls is important to their functionality. He said most poll workers are over 65 years old.

“As these people get older, it becomes more and more difficult for them to multitask,” Jackson said. “As technology continues to be updated, it becomes more and more difficult for them to troubleshoot and keep up with changes in procedures. So bringing a new generation of workers into the voting process – into the electoral process – can make the entire process much easier and faster for voters.”

Gonzalez said she likes the job because it gives her a chance to be part of an important process in democracy.

“I really believe strongly in the power of voting,” Gonzalez said. “I want to make sure that everyone has a good voting experience and has the right to vote however they want.”

Raven Walters, a fourth-year multimedia journalism student, said she became interested in becoming an election judge when one of her sorority sisters mentioned it and encouraged others to join.

Walters said the application process was extremely simple and the program required only one training session, which took place downtown in Block Thirty-Seven and lasted about four hours.

Jackson said working at the ballot box gave him a better understanding of what happens behind the scenes on Election Day.

“I like to see how foolproof the process is,” Jackson said. “It taught me a lot about the security of our electoral process in this country.”

Gonzalez said she always enjoys interacting with community members as an election judge and plans to continue working with her in the future, including after graduation.

According to Walters, the election workers’ day began at 5 a.m. and ended after the polls closed at 7 p.m., and officially ended when all equipment was put away and other side tasks were completed.

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

“I like meeting all the voters and seeing their enthusiasm,” Jackson said. It’s always exciting when someone comes out of the tab where you’re casting your vote and he turns around, takes the sticker, hands you his phone and says, “Can you take a picture of me?” I want to take a photo to celebrate the vote. So, between that and the voters you’re meeting for the first time, it’s a really joyful thing.”

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

“I feel like it’s important to kind of understand your community, and I feel like I’ve been able to connect with Rogers Park on a deeper level than I ever have before, despite the fact that I live 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 for, I guess, the country or the state.”

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

“I don’t necessarily have the biggest influence on the overall election,” Gonzalez said. “But when I’m polling, I feel like I can make sure that everyone has the right to vote, which helps me feel like something that I really can’t control is just a little more within my control.”

As a Spanish translator, Gonzalez said she felt an obligation to get involved in helping Spanish-speaking voters who otherwise might not be able to cast a ballot.

Gonzalez said she considers voting a privilege and wants to help more people appreciate that fact, especially considering how high the stakes are in politics today.

“I feel like the poll workers are there to make this experience as easy and as enjoyable as possible for people,” Gonzalez said. “We’re trying to do it quickly. We try to make all employees really friendly so that people want to vote and don’t consider it a burden. They think it’s more about realizing where they like, what a privilege it is to be able to vote and they actually enjoy it.”

Anyone interested in applying to become an election judge through a university program or otherwise can visit CBEC website for more information.