4 judges of elections explain how their job is ‘nonpartisan work’
This article is part of a campaign focused on explaining how government works and encouraging dialogue and understanding among Butler County residents.
On the local battle lines of democracy, its often longtime community members like Becky Koller of Butler County’s Cherry Township who run the show.
Koller, a mother and grandmother who has been involved in elections as a poll worker for around 25 years, became an election judge following the 2020 election, after her predecessor stepped down. Koller — a registered Democrat — as well as election judges of other political affiliations, work every Election Day alongside community members volunteering as poll workers to help ensure a fair election process is carried out.
“For me, it’s being the lady in charge. My parents owned a bakery, so I grew up bossing people around in there,” Koller said. “You’re not supposed to do a lot of things because you are judge. You’re not supposed to help the voters. You’re not supposed to touch the ballots. You set up. You close down. (You) take everything to the courthouse at night.”
In a world of partisan politics and polarized communities, Koller said Butler County election judges and election workers see themselves as a bastion of nonpartisanship. She said they all have personal reasons for why they got involved, but they share the dedication and commitment to keeping their work nonpartisan.
“I think it is the most important job during election time,” said Judy Kennedy, the judge of elections for Adams Township’s Precincts 2 and 3. She’s a registered Republican.
“You are responsible for everything that goes on there,” she said.
Four of those election judges with the Butler County Bureau of Elections — Koller, Kennedy, another Democrat from Butler Township and another Republican from the City of Butler — came together recently for a conversation about their jobs and what it takes to run local elections despite their varying backgrounds and different party affiliations.
Election judges are tasked with making sure the election process at individual locations is carried out fairly, ethically and in accordance with state and federal law. Here in Butler County, that means poll workers and election judges are present at all kinds of polling stations, making sure everything runs smoothly.
The four met on July 11, just days before the anniversary of the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt that targeted then candidate President Donald Trump. They gathered at the Butler Eagle’s office dressed in casual summer attire.
Kennedy, like Koller and the other two in the room, has been involved in the election process for more than 20 years and has a passion for protecting her neighbors’ right to vote.
Ruth Crotzer, of Butler, is a registered Republican who serves as a judge of elections and in the most recent primary election was tasked with piloting an electronic poll book.
The last of the four sitting at the Butler Eagle’s conference table was Pat Lemay, a registered Democrat who acts as judge of elections for Butler Township’s Precinct 5. Originally from New Hampshire, he now lives in Butler. He often partners with younger voters to train them as poll workers for other precincts. Working elections runs in the family, he said.
Though the four judges didn’t know each other well, they were familiar with one another from years on the job, running into each other on election nights, training sessions and other preparation for carrying out their duties.
They greeted each other kindly, asked Crotzer how piloting the electronic poll book worked for her and went on to hold an agreeable conversation about how their roles should be handled.
The four election judges who spoke with the Butler Eagle said they are aware of the politicized environment we live in, but politics within their jobs and at their precincts has no space. Not on their watch, they said.
Like elsewhere across the country, Butler County found itself dealing with controversy in the aftermath of the 2020 election, a result of heightened tensions amid attempts to overturn the election results.
The election process during 2024 was again in the local news, with now Sen. Dave McCormick edging out a slim victory against former Sen. Bob Casey. Butler County, along with everywhere else in the state, dealt with recounting provisional ballots to resolve uncertainty over the winner.
In the backdrop of events that have fundamentally changed public perception of the election process, the election judges have had to deal with residents questioning the work they do and the process they uphold.
“It’s not only hurtful, but we had to change policies,” Lemay said.
Lemay said after 2020, the bureau has had one of the clerks stand outside the entire time, just to make sure nobody outside is provoking anyone.
Koller said her precinct had armed police during the 2020 election. Though they haven’t since, the worry of violence is still there. Moniteau High School asked them to move the precinct to a new location. Koller’s precinct is currently at North Trails Public Library.
Despite all of this, the four election judges’ stance is clear — at the polling place, there is no ideology other than a belief in democracy.
“You have to set the tone of the whole precinct and it really has to be nonpolitical. It has to be a nonpolitical position,” Lemay said.
All four spoke to the importance of setting that tone. They have sent clerks home because they keep openly expressing their opinions.
“You have got to give each party, each individual, their own space to do their own thing and you have to check your personal feelings at the door,” Kennedy said.
The job, they said, is to make sure elections run smoothly, everyone is able to vote and everything abides by the state constitution.
“A lot of it comes with the training we’ve all been through,” Crotzer added.
Lemay and Kennedy both have experience working to ensure the election process is not only nonpartisan, but also transparent. After the 2020 presidential election, Butler’s three county commissioners put together a committee of 18 people representative of the county to review the election process.
“After the 2020 election, this was the only county in the state of Pennsylvania that did an exhaustive review of the election. We looked at it. We went through it and I got to give all three of the county commissioners credit, because they put together a group that was diverse, and represented everyone,” Lemay said. “They had Republicans, Democrats, they had five different judges there.”
“We’re professionals,” Lemay said. “I’ve known a lot of judges throughout the county, and to a tee, everyone of them does their best to try and carry out their duties, and to make sure everyone can vote.”
As the 90-minute conversation wrapped midafternoon at the Butler Eagle office, the four people went on their ways, though their paths will cross again soon. The next election is Nov. 4.
The election judges said they understand they have a tremendous amount of responsibility, ranging from counting votes to managing people, to keeping an eye out for anyone outside potentially trying to intimidate others.
“I think it is probably the most important job during election time,” Crotzer said. “You are responsible for everything that really goes on there.”
These election judges won’t let politics get in the way of making sure everyone exercises their right to vote, they said.
“Your party, whatever party you belong to, stops at the door when you walk into the polling place,” Koller said.
As the guiders of the election system, the four judges strongly encouraged everyone to get out and vote.
Voting, LeMay said, is the ultimate way to create change at any level of the government.
“If you’re not happy with the political environment and what’s going on, then vote,” Lemay said. “And your vote is safe. The problem with the system is not voting, the problem is not enough people are voting.”
