Just before the start of the school year, Parker juniors and seniors received emails from Upper School history teacher Andrew Bigelow inviting them to serve as election judges in the fall. Given the increased stakes around this year’s presidential election, the opportunity to serve can seem especially compelling. Though getting politically involved sounds exciting to many teenagers, some upperclassmen wonder what is involved.
According to the informational document distributed by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, election judges “manage the precinct polling places and assist voters.” Though this description may make the job sound overwhelming for somebody not yet old enough to vote, actual duties are manageable: set up equipment and materials, help voters with registration, complete reports and bring the locked ballot box to its final collection site.
Hundreds of high school students in Chicago participate in the Student Judge program. To be eligible for this process, students must be in their junior or senior year of high school, maintain at least a 3.0 GPA, live in Cook County, and get written approval from both the school principal and a parent or guardian. Additionally, students must complete a formal training session at Block 37 in the Loop. While polling places are assigned by the Board of Elections, students can request a spot in or near their precinct, typically a library or school.
Incentivized by the emails from Bigelow, senior Frances Gomez-Barrientos worked the polls last year and described the experience as “surprisingly fun.” Gomez-Barrientos said she was “initially expecting a chaotic polling place environment but was pleasantly surprised to find peace amongst such a potentially divisive experience.”
She also shared what to expect at training. “For the whole four hours, we went through the provided handbook and learned how to do it all. Another thing is that the Election Judge position isn’t limited to only high school students.” Gomez-Barrientos said that all training participants should expect to be in a group with mixed ages. “At my location, a college student was also a judge, and it was nice to have someone close in age to talk to for the entire day,” she said.
Senior Uma Morris seemed to agree with this sentiment.“It was awesome to meet a bunch of different people,” Morris said. She even had the chance to practice her Spanish skills, assisting voters who couldn’t speak English access the polling machines.
In exchange for the half day of training and 5:00 AM to 8:30 PM election shift, students gain both experience and a little cash in their wallets. People shouldn’t get too excited about the latter. Election judges earn a total of $230 for the 19+ hours of work and training, far less than Chicago’s minimum wage of $16.20. But even if this cash doesn’t pique interest, this job comes with a real involvement helping our democracy.
Last year, more than 50 Parker students participated as judges in the Chicago election. While it’s too late to apply for the 2024 election, if students are still on the fence about signing up for next year’s elections, Bigelow suggests that “you should conquer your fears and apply for the experience. I’d hate for election day to go by without you participating and for you to regret it, versus you participating and [deciding that] it wasn’t for you.”
If the hallways seem a bit light on November 5, it’s because upperclassmen are representing Parker in polling places across the city, contributing to the country’s election process.
