A Voter’s Guide to Elections from the League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area

Be an Election Inspector: Your Community Needs You

The Otsego County Board of Elections works diligently throughout the year to assure elections in our county will be run securely, smoothly and fairly. But at election time, the BoE needs help to make sure we can exercise our right to vote. To do so, they hire and train local residents to serve as election inspectors. (You may be more familiar with the term poll workers.) Election inspectors are your neighbors, your work colleagues, your children’s teachers and coaches—people you see throughout your community. Election inspectors arrive early to set up the chairs and get out the materials, they check your registration and signature, they hand you a ballot, direct you to a privacy booth, and provide any assistance you need. And when the polls close, they put everything away. They are an important part of the security and safety of our elections.

As you might imagine, the BoE needs many election inspectors to make the process work.  Their presence at the polls means that when voters arrive, the check-in process is quick and efficient (no long lines!), that voters have all their questions answered, that all procedures are followed, and that all votes are accounted for.