Overview

Each polling place is operated by a Polling Place Board consisting of a Chief Manager (Chairperson of the Board) and two Assistant Managers, assisted by clerks. Managers and clerks are appointed by the Election Superintendent. These poll officials run operations at polling places from before the opening of polls to after closing, ensuring that ballots are properly cast and accounted for before delivering them to the tabulation center. A polling place may consist of a single precinct or multiple precincts.

Election-Related Duties

The key duties of the Polling Place Board (i.e., poll workers at a polling place) are:

1. Canceling absentee ballots under appropriate circumstances. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-388.
2. Offering provisional ballots. O.C.G.A. §21-2-418(a).
3. Executing poll closing procedures. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-420.
4. Printing the total number of ballots cast at the polling location. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-420.
5. Preparing memory cards and ballots for transportation to the tabulation center. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-420; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 183-1-14-.02(16).
6. Delivering memory cards, ballots, and other materials to the tabulation center. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 183-1-14-.02(16) .

Selection and Vacancy Information

• Appointed: The Polling Place Board members are appointed by the Election Superintendent. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-90. If political parties choose to be involved (by submitting a list of names of people that could serve as poll officers), the Election Superintendent is supposed to make appointments that provide balanced representation to the extent it is possible. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-90.
• Makeup: The Board is composed of one Chief Manager (Chairperson of the Board) and two Assistant Managers who are assisted by clerks. If political parties wish to, they may submit a list of qualified individuals to the Superintendent who, “insofar as practicable,” make appointments to the Board so that political parties are equally represented. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-90.
• Qualifications and Restrictions:
  • Poll officers must be “judicious, intelligent, and upright citizens of the United States.” O.C.G.A. § 21-2-92(a)(1); see also O.C.G.A. § 21-2-78.
  • They must be a resident or employed by the county in which they are to be appointed, unless:
    • the individual lives in an adjoining county;
    • the Election Superintendent of the county in which the individual resides determines that letting the individual serve in the other county would not impair the ability of the county in which the individual resides to conduct its own elections; and
    • the Election Superintendent for the county in which the individual wishes to serve determines there is a “sufficient need for more poll officers.” O.C.G.A. § 21-2-92(a)(2).
  • A poll officer must be at least 16 years of age.
  • The individual must be able to read, write, and speak the English language.
  • A poll officer cannot currently be a public officeholder, other than a political party office.
  • No one whose name appears on the ballot can serve as a poll officer.
  • No one who is a “parent, spouse, child, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of a candidate” in a polling place in which such candidate’s name appears on the ballot can serve as a poll officer. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-92(a)(1).