EJ Training Presenters Opening Speech
Categories
Welcome
Introductions
Purpose for Training
Election Judge Importance
City-specific items
Suggested Talking Points
Welcome to the 2014 election judge training. Thank you for
joining us for this exciting election year!
Introduce yourself and your staff
The purpose for training today is to review the laws and
procedures that you are required to use in the polling place.
Whether you are a new judge or have 20 years of experience as
a judge, it is essential to understand and follow the procedures
that are presented today.
State law requires all election judges to attend training. Our
training today will include some PowerPoint, videos, equipment
demonstrations, and some group quizzes along the way to
emphasize certain points.
Todays training presentation includes narrated PowerPoint
slides, video clips, and several questions to review each section.
(Option: You may use the audience response system, otherwise
known as Turning Point Technology. Please use the audience
response system to select your answers to the questions.)
Please hold your questions for the end of each of these sections.
This training is expected to take approximately 2 hours. There
will be time at the end of this presentation to practice on the
voting equipment and ask additional questions.
We will cover a lot of information here today and we dont expect
you to memorize anything just know where to find the
information. Use the Duty Cards, the Judge Guide, Chair or
Assistant Chair Judge and veteran team judges are all there to
help you. Today is the classroom learning; on Election Day you
can apply what youve learned and gain more understanding
from experience.
As election judges you protect and promote public confidence by
conducting fair, accurate and open elections.
You serve as Gatekeepers of Democracy to the voting process
by upholding election laws with integrity, dignity and accuracy.
You election judges are the largest single-day nation-wide
deployment serving the public.
Thank you for giving of yourself to the bigger cause of
democracy.
In __(our City of ___)__, there are ___ precincts serving ______
pre-registered voters. Each precinct will have one Chair Judge
and one Assistant Chair Judge. The number of regular team
judges assigned will vary depending on the size of the precinct.
 Each judge is certified and appointed to administer the upcoming
elections. The Chair Judge is the lead election official in the
polling place.
Election Judge conduct Neutrality
The polling place must be a neutral place. Sharing personal
opinions about any political party, candidate or question on the
ballot is not allowed. And if any voters attempt to campaign or
share opinions, you must tell them your opinions belong
privately on your ballot and not publicly in the polling place.

Customer Service Good/personable Customer Service is vital to serve the voters.

Think of your best customer service experience and pass that on
to the voters. What is most important about customer service?
(Examples: Eye contact, speak clearly, taking time with one-on-
one, be in the moment and not distracted; and crowd
management and line control helps with all of these)

Housekeeping items Some housekeeping items:

Please turn off your cellphones.

Please review your election judge manual and duty cards prior to
serving in the polling place.

(Remember to return the Turning Point Technology at the end of

this training session.)

Remember to vote! If you are working outside your own precinct,

you should vote by absentee ballot before August 12 and
November 4.
Closing Thank you very much for your attention, and for working together
as a team to serve the voters of our city.
We are proud of your impartial, courteous, and professional
service to the voters in this cityyou are democracy in action!

Please pick up your Certificate of Training at the end of class.

We appreciate your feedback on the Evaluation Form.
Now, lets proceed to our training.

Option: Break Everyone please stand up. Lets learn a little about you.
If this is your first-time election judge please wave to the crowd
- welcome and please sit down.
If you have served as an election judge for one to five years?
Please wave to the crowd & sit down.
How many of you have served six to ten years?
Now 11 to 15 years?
Everyone standing has served 16 or more years!
So you can see that you will have a lot of experienced judges on
your team.
 Put your hands together and give yourself a hand!

Option: Mid-point break Ok, so this is a breakon-a budget.

Everybody up, were going to do the wave. OK, follow along
(do wave left to right, right to left, a couple of times). OK, very
good, now back to training.

Optional exercise This is an optional exercise to help folks appreciate that they
may think they know/remember everything, but that memory is
sometimes not so perfect.
Clock
Before we begin humor me and look up at me make eye
contact with me please. Now, if you are wearing a watch do
NOT look at it but on one of the handouts, sketch that watch, or
a kitchen or bedroom clock.
Does the watch have all 12 numbers, or only some of the
numbers? Does the clock face have a dash, or a dot to indicate
the other numbers? And what else do you remember? What is
the brand name of the watch is it in print or script, or simply a
logo?
Hmmmso the point is that, every though you see something
and work with it every day of the year, you may not remember
every detail of it.
Where do you think I am going with that?

Close of training Thank you again for helping to conduct the election and serving
the voters of our city.
Please review the training materials prior to election day.
Remember to pick up your certificate.
We are here after class to answer any additional questions, and
we are there for you on Election Day as well!
(Option place contact info at beginning & end of PowerPoint or
share now: Please see our website at _____________________
or call /email ____________________ at ______________ if
you have questions in the future.)
Thank you!