Since announcing an appeal to military veterans to recruit them for service as poll workers, the Cook County Clerk’s Office has had an overwhelming response, with more than 2,000 Cook County residents coming forward to sign up to serve as an Election Judge.
Three weeks ago, Cook County Clerk Karen A. Yarbrough announced that her office was facing a serious shortage of election workers and that she was appealing to military veterans to consider serving in the upcoming November 8 Gubernatorial Election. The Clerk’s Office appealed to the media and sent email communications and announcements to veterans and veteran organizations. Since September 20, more than 2,050 residents had registered to be a judge on the Clerk’s website.
“We are absolutely thrilled and extremely thankful to these individuals for stepping up for our democracy,” said Yarbrough. “As they have before under so many difficult circumstances, our veterans have again answered the Call to Service. And this will help to ensure that our precincts will be staffed, and that democracy will be served for the voters of Cook County on Election Day.”
Clerk’s Office Elections Officials said the group contains mostly veterans, but also friends and family members of veterans and non-veterans who heard about the judge shortage and made the decision to serve.
Like many election jurisdictions across the nation, the Clerk’s Office has been experiencing a significant reduction in the number of residents coming forward to serve as Election Judges, with the number of judges declining about 40 percent over the last eight years.
When Yarbrough made the announcement three weeks ago, approximately 4,350 individuals had signed up to serve as judges. The Clerk’s Office has 1,439 precincts that will require staffing with at least 7,200 poll workers throughout all communities in suburban Cook County. Election Judges are paid $200 and Polling Place Technicians $365, and the Clerk’s Office provides training for both positions. Election Judges must be a registered Cook County voter or an eligible college or high school student (16 or older).
The Clerk’s Office is also in need of bilingual Election Judges in many precincts with high concentrations of Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Gujarati, Urdu, and Arabic-speaking voters who are not proficient in English and may need special assistance at the polls. To apply to work as an Election Judge or Polling Place Technician, visit cookcountyclerk.com/work.
Yarbrough also reminded suburban voters that as of October 12, they can now cast their ballots during initial Early Voting at any of the five suburban Cook County Circuit Courthouses, as well as at the 69 W. Washington pedway location in downtown Chicago. Voters can also drop off their Mail Ballots at any of these locations. On October 24, Early Voting will be expanded to more than 50 locations throughout suburban Cook County.
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