Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: David Tom, Deputy Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder

(Redwood City, CA)The San Mateo County Elections Office will begin the training of 1600 election officers who were recruited to manage the 343 polling place precincts in the county for the November 6, 2012 Presidential General Election.

To prepare for Election Day duty, election officers are required to attend formal training.  Election officer training classes begin October 9th at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo. A total of 70 classes will be offered in public facilities throughout the County during the month of October. Class sign-ups are done online or over the phone; the telephone number is 650.286.2810. The training schedule and online reservation application is located on www.shapethefuture.org in the section of the website dedicated to election officers. Student poll workers will be trained on their campuses; 25 classes are scheduled to accommodate the nearly 500 students that have signed up to work in the November 6 Presidential General Election. 

San Mateo County Election Officers earn a stipend of $125 ($100 for Election Day/$25 for the mandatory training). The training, which lasts from two to three hours, depending on an election officer’s prior experience, must be completed prior to Election Day.

The “Beginners” class is designed for election officers who are new or have very little experience working at the polls on Election Day. This class is a combination of lecture and hands-on training on basic poll operations and will give Election Officers experience in assembling, operating, and breaking down the eSlate voting equipment (this class is three hours in length).

The “Intermediate” class is for election officers who have worked at least two San Mateo County elections. This class is primarily a lecture with hands-on exercises built into the curriculum on all poll activities; it is two and half hours in length. 

The “Inspector” class is for the Inspectors who want to gain a better understanding of the Inspector responsibilities. This class is two and half hours in length and is primarily a lecture with hands-on exercises on the additional responsibilities unique to Inspectors only.

The “Advanced” class is for the very seasoned election officers who have worked at least 10 elections. This class is two hours long and is limited to 30 attendees.  It requires attendees to have a strong foundation in polling place procedures.

In addition to the mandatory “Procedures” classes, all Election Officers have the opportunity to come in and gain additional experience on any Election Day procedure in a Practice Lab. “Our practice lab is designed to help election officers focus in the areas where they need the most help,” said Church. Practice labs are set up at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo at the Elections Office and are supervised by seasoned election officers or staff trainers.

“Serving at the polls is an experience like none other and it’s a way to give something back to the community and to your country,” Church noted. 

The press release is displayed in its original format. San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Elections website now resides at www.smcacre.org