Election Judges for February 27, 2007

Written by: Barry Aldridge on Jan 3, 2007 5:05 PM EST

At the December 2006 meeting, I brought up the idea of DFA/ERP members serving as election judges and donating part or all of their pay back to DFA/ERP as a fundraiser for us.  Also, ensuring elections are well-run and staffed by intelligent, good-looking people is naturally grassroots, progressive democracy.
Judges serve on a 2-year cycle.  The current cycle began with the November 2006 election.  Sometime in mid-January 2007 the Board of Elections will know if they need more Judges for the upcoming election and will then create a schedule of training classes.  At this time (January 4th) they do not know if they even need to train any more people.  I will post to this Blog when they make an annoucement.
If you are interested in becoming an election judge in the City of Chicago, you can read all about it and download an application at the URL below.  Applications must be mailed-in to the City (you cannot apply on-line).  I will bring applications to the January 4, 2007 meeting. http://www.chicagoelections.com/judgeofelection.htm

Judges must help set-up equipment in their precinct at 5:30 a.m. and stay after the polls close at 7 p.m. to count ballots.  You get $100 per election and $50 for going through the training.  If you are the person who brings the election materials back downtown after the election, you get even more, but I'm  not sure how much.
Judges are certified for 2 years at which time they must re-apply.  During this 2 years they ask that you participate in 3 elections.  
You may also be asked to register voters at certain times of year, which pays $30.
There is a Student Election Judge program for High School seniors.  Information about that is also available at the URL shown above.

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Location: Chicago, IL