Poll workers are the frontline elections administrators and are the difference between a voter feeling their voice is heard and an experience that creates distrust in the electoral system. They perform vital tasks including answering voters’ questions regarding their rights, providing ballots to voters or setting up voting machines, verifying voters’ identities, and assisting voters with signing documents required to cast a ballot. In Pennsylvania there is no universal standard for how these poll workers are trained meaning a voters experience at the polls is likely to vary from county to county.

We are working to develop best practice models to enhance poll worker training across the Commonwealth. This project is seeking volunteers in any county across PA to participate as a poll worker in the upcoming May 21st 2019 election. The purpose of this project is to help inform our work to better understand how poll worker training varies across counties, as well as measure the training's effectiveness. To participate in this project we ask that you’re able to meet the following five (5) criteria:

1. Be a registered voter in the county where you will serve as a poll worker
2. Be available to attend a poll worker training session in your county (likely May 18th or 19th but may vary depending on county)
3. Be available to serve as a poll worker on Tuesday, May 21, 2019
4. Complete a short ten (10) question survey after training evaluating the effectiveness of the training
5. Participate in a short post-election group debrief call (date TBD)