Precinct Election Official Training

October 23, 2024

Guest Column by Whitney Hein, Jones County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections

Precinct Election Officials

                Elections are the core of our government system and the Precinct Election Officials (PEOs) working at the polls are a major part of the election process. It is the duty of a PEO to provide each eligible voter the opportunity to vote and assure the privacy and secrecy of each vote. Prior to polls opening on election day, PEOs take a legally binding oath to uphold election laws and to be professional, fair, impartial, and equitable to all voters.

                For larger elections like the upcoming General Election, the Auditor’s office starts looking at the standing panel of PEOs, also known as poll workers, months prior to election day to determine how many PEOs will be needed at each polling location and to review the political party of those on the panel. During this review of the PEO panel, the Auditor’s office will also determine if recruitment of new PEOs is needed. Unlike other counties, Jones County has a dedicated group of PEOs, and we are fortunate to have a plethora of citizens signed up wanting to be poll workers. There are counties out there who struggle to find poll workers. If you are reading this and sent a poll worker inquiry form either through our county website or the Secretary of State website and the Auditor’s office didn’t reach out to you to work this election, please know that we appreciate your interest and we will keep you on our panel for future elections. There are more people wanting to be PEOs than what is needed for this election.

                There are certain qualifications citizens must meet before being a PEO. The first qualification is that they must be a registered voter of the county. There is an exception to this rule for high school students who want to be a PEO but are not registered to vote yet. There are certain laws regarding high school students as PEOs. These laws can be found in Iowa Code Chapter 49.13(6). In short, those students must be a least 17 years old and have permission from the principal and guardians. The other qualification standard that a PEO must meet is that they cannot be related to any opposed candidates on the ballot within the third degree. PEOs can work at the election if a relative within the third degree is unopposed.

 Per Iowa Code 49.13, each polling location is required by law to have a bi-partisan team of PEOs meaning that the two major political parties (Republican and Democratic) must be equally represented at the polling location. There are PEOs who have no political affiliation, but generally to keep the bi-partisan team status, there can be no more than one PEO at a polling place with a no party status.

These dedicated and loyal citizens who volunteer to be a PEO do get paid for their service, but the hours spent on training, election day, pre- and post-election day duties does not make it a very high paying gig. Most view it as their civic duty to volunteer as PEO.  All PEOs must attend training prior to election day. This is a training course that the Auditor’s office puts on and it teaches PEOs about election laws, how to set-up polling locations, and operate the equipment on election day. If a PEO is designated as the chair or head of a polling location, there is additional training that is required for those duties. At the discretion of the Auditor, there may be additional training options for PEOs such security and safety at the polling place. PEOs spend a minimum of 4 hours at a training course and some will receive up to seven hours of training if they attend multiple training courses. On election day, PEOs arrive at the polls at least one hour before polls open and then must stay until all post-election duties are completed. This means that most PEOs work for at least 16 hours on election day.

While a lot of time is spent focusing on those PEOs who serve at the polls on election day, there are other classes of PEOs who also play an integral part of the election process. There are PEOs who serve on the Special Precinct Board (the Board that counts the absentee ballots), those that go to Health Care Facilities to deliver ballots and assist with voting, and PEOs that serve on the Post-Election Audit Board. All roles in the election process are very important in providing safe and secure elections to voters. I would like to thank all the Jones County PEOs for their dedication and work for past elections and for the upcoming general election.

In closing, if you requested an absentee ballot by mail prior to October 16th, you should have received the ballot already. If you haven’t received it, please call the Auditor’s office at 319-462-2282. In-person absentee voting is open at the Courthouse on Monday through Friday 8-4:30 through November 4th. The office will be open on Friday, November 1st until 5PM and open on Saturday, November 2nd from 9-5.