Benedictine receives grant to recruit election judges

Benedictine University students taking classes this fall on American government and political campaigns will be asked to put citizenship into action by becoming election judges in the Nov. 2 election.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission recently awarded a $55,385 grant to the Lisle university to recruit and train college students to be poll workers.

The grant was given to the university's Center for Civic Leadership and Public Service, headed by former Illinois Attorney General and Benedictine alumnus Jim Ryan. The money was made available under the Help America Vote Act to fight an increasing shortage of election judges.

Joel Ostrow, chairman of Benedictine's political science department, said the goal is to recruit 100 election judges for the fall election and to continue the recruitment process into a second year.

"If we want 100 at the polls on election day, we need to get 200 successfully completing the training," he said.

Ostrow said serving as an election judge will be treated as part of the course requirements in three classes totaling about 70 students - campaigns & elections, state and local government, and American government - and other classes may present it as an option.

Students also will be able to take a one-credit seminar on the election process and civic responsibility.

"There is a real need for younger poll workers," Ostrow said. "Our hope is people will commit and do this a long time into the future."

Ostrow said the $55,000 for the first year is to set up the infrastructure that includes adding information on serving as election judges to the curriculum, producing promotional materials and setting up a website. Professors who incorporate the information in their classes receive a portion of the grant.

In addition to their class work, the students must take an online course offered by the DuPage County Election Commission and pass an exam to be certified as judges. Students not interested in receiving college credit may simply take the online course and exam.

To become election judges, the students do not have to live in DuPage County, but they must be U.S. citizens and registered voters.

Doreen Nelson, assistant executive director of the DuPage Election Commission, said the commission needs close to 3,200 judges to staff all polling places in the November election. Precinct committeemen reappoint election judges who already have been certified, but those reappointments have been coming in slowly, Nelson said.

"There's always a need for judges," she said. "It's always been a steady problem, especially to get young people who are adept at today's technology."

The hardest positions to fill are for technical judges, who make sure the election equipment is working properly, she said.

Election judges are paid $130 a day. Those who complete training and testing every two years receive an additional $30 per election.

Polls are open on election day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election judges are asked to arrive by 5:15 a.m. and stay until all tasks are completed, Nelson said.

The DuPage Election Commission has recruited high school students to serve as election judges since the 2000, she said. High school juniors and seniors who complete training and have grade-point averages of 3.0 on 4.0-scale may serve as judges with the permission of their parents and school officials.

Nelson said about 800 high school students serve as election judges in presidential elections and 350 in other elections.

Ostrow said Benedictine will focus on recruiting its own students for the November election and then reach out to neighboring colleges to recruit students on their campuses for next year.