Even with new technology and new procedures, one thing has not changed about Georgia elections: Those who will have the most direct impact on achieving a smooth, successful election day are the poll managers and workers who will staff Georgia’s 3100 precincts on Nov. 3rd.

With thousands of precincts in 159 counties in the largest state east of the Mississippi River, the task of getting thousands of county-hired poll workers comfortable with new voting procedures is monumental. It began late last year with the training of county election superintendents and their fulltime staff. The superintendent and at least one other top staffer received two days of intensive training on the new equipment, provided by the manufacturer, Dominion Voting Systems. These sessions provided a basic orientation to setting up and conducting an election and compiling the votes on election night. County election staffers have also attended regional electronic Poll Pad trainings put on by the State Elections Division – half-day sessions focused on the poll book and check in process. Full day refresher training sessions were offered to all counties in January 2020.

In August, Dominion trainers conducted hands-on training sessions for tech workers and poll worker refresher trainings. Dominion committed to train at least one tech support worker per polling place. The tech training sessions, which lasted 4 ½ hours provided an in-depth orientation to equipment operation and troubleshooting. Poll worker refresher training lasted 3 hours. A poll worker training website includes both quick and thorough training videos that offer a basic overview of the set up of the polling place, election day operations, and the shut down of the polling place. The website also includes a full handbook describing poll worker responsibilities and brief introductions to the various aspects of poll working on election day. 

To help counties provide incentives to their poll workers to attend training and serve as poll workers on election day, the Secretary of State’s office has purchased Secure the Vote giveaways – such as tote bags and stress balls - to reward poll officials for their time working the polls. The state provided to all 159 counties voting equipment consisting of a touchscreen ballot marking device, printer, and scanner to enable each county to conduct additional training and mock elections on its own. In addition, Dominion provided refresher or follow-up training for poll workers in major counties. These sessions will continue right up to Election Day.

In addition to the Dominion training on touch screen and ballot marking device operations, all counties are required by law to train poll workers on the broader scope of duties, including voter ID requirements, checking in and accounting for voters, provisional voting and other procedures. Georgia’s unique model, with a new voting system deployed simultaneously to all counties, has made possible a comprehensive statewide training program. To recap:

Major Training Components 

• Dominion-provided hands-on, two-day training sessions to elections supervisors throughout the state; 24 total sessions held in fourteen regions of the state

• Supplemental refresher and follow-up training by Dominion to major counties

• Secure The Vote paraphernalia to counties to reward poll workers for attendance at training sessions and working on election day

• Special training kits including voting equipment to permit counties to extend and repeat their training as needed

• Training of hundreds of technicians to available for precinct level issues on election day

• Several professional quality training videos covering the basics of equipment set-up and operation

• A complete poll worker operations manual, along with a simple, step-by-step instruction sheets for each precinct

• Additional county-provided training to all poll workers on overall Georgia election law and procedures