Judge, inspector of elections races contested in county
About a dozen inspector of elections races and three judge of elections races in various Butler County voting precincts will be contested in the May 20 primary election.
Some have extensive political backgrounds, and some have no political background, but all are running on the same issue — election security.
“All election positions are under a much brighter spotlight than they were even 10 years ago, and there’s nothing wrong with that in and of itself,” said Jeff Greenburg, the senior adviser on election administration for the Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan civic leadership organization based in Philadelphia.
Under state law, the judge of elections is the supervisor of the precinct while the majority and minority inspectors of elections ensure voting is legal and fair, with correct voter registration and verification and accurate voting machines.
The judge of elections opens the polls at 7 a.m., retrieves and returns all election materials to the Bureau of Elections before and after voting, and posts the precinct results outside. They are responsible for the conduct and manner in which the precinct operates.
The inspectors of elections test and open the voting machines, verify voter registration at the precinct, close the machines and process absentee ballots. A majority and minority inspector is elected, or appointed if no candidates run, so voting and processing are completed in the presence of both parties, according to Chantell McCurdy, director of the Butler County Bureau of Elections.
The majority and minority positions don’t appear on the ballot, Greenburg said.
Different candidates for inspector of elections run on the Republican and Democratic ballots, and whoever receives the majority of votes becomes the majority inspector, he said.
Duties may vary slightly as each county in Pennsylvania administers elections differently, but the judge of elections is the head poll worker in a precinct.
Other paid poll workers usually include two appointed clerks and a machine inspector to ideally have five poll workers at each precinct, Greenburg said.
Greenburg previously served as the director of the Mercer County Voter Registration and Election Bureau from 2007 to 2020. He was previously a reporter for 15 years with The Herald in Sharon and was the political editor for his last three years there.
He compared election administration to a billiards cue ball. He said it feels smooth and solid when holding it, but under a microscope, there are imperfections. He said there has never been a perfect election, but in today’s election environment, he’s seen innocent mistakes be turned into something “sinister” that casts doubt on entire elections.
He said election administrations can no longer try to hide errors and should ensure voters are responded to openly and quickly when mistakes occur to build trust in elections.
Greenburg said the country’s political climate has made the job of a poll worker more difficult. He said it was unheard of in his day for a poll worker and voter to have a confrontation, but more often he’s seeing voter frustration taken out on poll workers.
Voters are vaguely familiar with most parts of the election laws, but as an election administrator, the rule he got the most calls about was campaigners standing within 10 feet of the precinct doors, which can lead to electioneering and intimidation.
“Occasionally a voter will come in and report to us that someone badgered them as they approached, or that a campaign sign of a candidate supporter is too close to the door … and one of us will go out to rectify the situation,” said Daphne A. Turner, one of the inspector of elections candidates in Slippery Rock Township.
Greenburg said where voters aren’t well-versed on election laws is when to show identification. Voters must show ID when voting at a precinct for the first time, and they’re encouraged to ask poll workers to show them the rule in the poll book.
Poll workers undergo training before each election on what to expect working at the precinct.
“No. 1, we train our poll workers: You don’t guess,” Greenburg said. “If it doesn’t say ID required, you can’t ask a voter for ID … That would hopefully make the voter feel better that the poll workers aren’t stepping beyond the bounds of the law.”
Greenburg said voters also often forget provisional ballots are a guaranteed right for voters. If a voter is turned away at a voting precinct for any reason, they should not leave the precinct before filling out a provisional ballot, he said.
Greenburg said he conducted a survey among poll workers in Mercer County about 15 years ago and found more workers were in their 90s than in their 20s. He said the average age for a poll worker at the time was around 64, and the average age has risen nearly everywhere in the state.
“It is getting harder and harder to find people to fill those positions … as the poll worker population continues to age,” Greenburg said.
He added 60% of his precincts had the same group of poll workers every election, and 40% had constant turnover between elections. He said Mercer County used to have about 100 precincts that would ideally operate with 300 poll workers, but some years, they were lucky to have 100 poll workers on the ballot.
McCurdy said in Butler County, the level of interest ebbs and flows depending on the election year in age of poll workers. She said she’s expecting more turnover this year as most Judges of Elections are looking to retire, and the last year she saw a spike in interest for the positions was in 2021.
The majority inspector of elections races in the county are contested. Judge of elections races are contested in three precincts.
More election coverage can be found here.
