WINNING PRECINCT-LEVEL OFFICE
Judges of Elections and the Inspectors of Elections.
First Rung on the Political Ladder
The most local of all elected offices here in Pennsylvania are the
Judges of Elections and the Inspectors of Elections. The Judge of
Elections is the person responsible for running your local polling place
on election day twice a year. To assist in this task, there are also two
Inspectors of Elections who, by law, must belong to differing political
parties.
The candidate who receives the most votes becomes the Majority
Inspector, and the first runner up becomes the Minority Inspector. In an
unbelievable number of cases, one or the other (sometimes both) of the old
parties fail to nominate any candidate for these positions, and even if
they do, they often fail to campaign for the position. With almost 10,000
polling places scattered across Pennsylvania, this presents a golden
quadrennial opportunity for the Libertarian Party to elect literally
hundreds of candidates to partisan office. This was first attempted on an
organized basis in Montgomery County in 1997, albeit on a small scale.
Still, the results were impressive by any standard: twelve Libertarians
were elected to partisan public office, more than any other county in the
entire nation.
But the benefits of pursuing the most-local of all elected offices go
far beyond dramatically increasing the number of elected Libertarians in
Pennsylvania. More importantly, it puts us in political contact with our
opponents, giving us valuable visibility while giving them a chance to get
to know us better.
Through our participation in the local political
process, we demonstrate to the two old parties that we Libertarians are
serious about serving in government, that we care about democracy in our
neighborhoods, and that we don't have three heads. It shouts to them that
we Libertarians are finally ready for political prime time. But best of
all, it's an easy to do, twice-a-year job that's easy to win. All we need
are willing candidates.
Qualifications for Office
In order to run for either Inspector of Elections or Judge of Elections,
you must:
- Be at least 18 years old on election day;
- Be registered to vote as a Libertarian;
- Not be a government employee at any level;
- Not have had your name on the primary ballot for the office you're
seeking.
In most cases, past legal difficulties are no bar to running or serving.
The rule of thumb is that if you can register to vote, you can serve.
Duties of the Offices
The term of office for Judges and Inspectors of Elections is four years.
Each serves only two days a year, specifically for the primary and general
elections, and the county provides all necessary training and manuals.
A typical election day for the local precinct officials runs from 6:30
AM until the vote count is complete, usually around 9 PM, with time off
for meals and occasional breaks.
As the person in command of the polling place, the duties of the Judge
of Elections are as follows:
- Pick up the voter registration binder and other paperwork from a
designated place;
- Verify the voting machine serial numbers against the keys and
documentation;
- Swear in poll workers, administer their oath of office, and assign
duties;
- Schedule relief periods and fill any vacancies in the poll staff;
- Set up the polling place and machines;
- Open the polls promptly at 7 AM;
- Spend the day helping your neighbors vote;
- Close the polls promptly at 8 PM;
- Tally the votes and seal the machines;
- Prepare and post the official returns;
- Return all voting materials to the designated site.
For the day's effort, a Judge of Elections is paid approximately $120.
As the assistants to the Judge of Elections, the duties of the
Inspectors of Elections are as follows:
- Arrive at the polling place by 6:30 AM on each election day;
- Be sworn in and sign the oath of office (The Minority Inspector swears
in the Judge of Elections);
- Assist the Judge in preparing and opening the polling place;
- Perform duties assigned by the Judge;
- Spend the day helping neighbors vote;
- Close the polls promptly at 8 PM;
- Assist the Judge in the tally of votes, the preparation and posting of
the official returns.
For the day's effort, an Inspector of Elections is paid approximately
$90.
Running for Precinct Office
There are two ways to run your campaign for Inspector or Judge of
Elections: either petition to get your name on the ballot, or conduct a
write-in campaign. Each approach has its benefits and drawbacks.
Petitioning means that you collect signatures from registered voters in
your precinct, usually only about a dozen or so, then submit some simple
paperwork to your county's Election Board by August 1st. Assuming
everything is filled out properly, your name will then appear on the
November ballot. For a write-in campaign, nothing needs to be done in
advance. Come election day, supporters simply cast their write-in
ballots.
One of the biggest advantages of a write-in campaign over petitioning is
its stealth aspect. In the case where there's no old-party candidate on
the ballot, you could win with only a single write-in vote -- your own.
This happened in almost half the victories in MontCo in 1997. The
drawback to a write-in campaign is that fewer people are likely to vote
for you (especially if you have an unusual last name). So a write-in
campaign works best when there is no other candidate for a given office.
The main advantage to having your name on the ballot is that it's much
easier for people to vote for you. Having any candidate on the ballot
also increases the credibility and visibility of the Libertarian Party,
win or lose.
Regardless of which sort of campaign you run, there are certain
sure-fire tricks that can further boost your vote totals. Distributing
flyers in your neighborhood always helps, but knocking on doors in the
weeks before the election is the best way to find votes. Also, experience
shows that you'll receive roughly twice as many votes if you have a
volunteer handing out literature in front of your polling place on
election day, and doubles again if the candidate is there to personally
greet the voters. It's also likely that the incumbent (if there is one)
is working inside the poll where campaigning is prohibited, making victory
all that much easier.
Do You Have Any Opposition?
All it takes is a brief phone call to your county Election Board to find
out if you have any opposition in your precinct for Inspector or Judge of
Elections.
If you want to identify all the open races in your town or county, or if
you need petitions or other paperwork, count on paying a visit to your
Election Board. The final list of candidates and open offices is usually
available a week or two after the primary election, sometimes sooner. If
you ask for a copy of the list (paper or electronic), there may be a
nominal charge, so come prepared to take notes if you don't want to pay.
While you're there, you may want to take some time to review the voter
registration rolls to seek out registered Libertarians who may be
interested in running for the open slots you uncover.
Leaving Office
One interesting facet of the positions of Inspector and Judge of
Elections is that should you decide to step down before the end of your
term (for whatever reason), all is not lost. If you can't serve the
entire term, you have the right to appoint a Libertarian successor. The
seat belongs to you and the Libertarian Party for the entire 4-year term.
Good Luck!
Like the first rung on any ladder to success, the neighborhood political
offices of Inspector and Judge of Elections are a modest, but essential
foundation for the growth of the Libertarian Party. Success at higher
levels will come much easier once we succeed in convincing our neighbors
that we deserve their trust and respect. And the best way we can earn
that respect is to climb into the political trenches alongside the two old
parties and dirty our hands with the machinery of state. All it takes is
a willing candidate.
Distributed by Ken Krawchuk
c/o PO Box 260,
Cheltenham, Pa. 19012
215-881-9696
KenKrawchuk@Enter.NetThe
Libertarian
Party
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
Discussion-bounces@lppa.org [mailto:Discussion-bounces@lppa.org]On
> Behalf Of Ken V. Krawchuk
> Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 8:07 AM
> To: LPP Discussion
> Subject: [LPPa Discussion] Drawing a "Get into office free" card for the
> LPP
>
>
>
> Folks:
>
> Thanks must go to Ron Goodman for posting that brochure
> on how to run for
> those two most-local of political offices, Inspector of Elections and
> Judge of Elections. It's not too soon to be thinking about getting
> organized.
>
> In fact, I've already started. For example, I visited my
> county election
> board the other day to review who's on the ballot in my home town (among
> other things), and I stumbled across some exciting news.
>
> Of the 38 IoE races in Abington Township, it turns out
> that the Democrats
> are not running anybody in 14 of them. That's FOURTEEN golden
> opportunities for us Libertarians to waltz into public office -- and
> that's in my town alone. Countywide, I'd extrapolate that there are
> HUNDREDS of open seats, and statewide there are likely THOUSANDS.
>
> My next step is easy: I'm reviewing my copy of the voter
> registration
> rolls to find Libertarians who live in the precincts with the
> open seats.
> I'll call each of them personally and ask them to run. For
> those who say
> "Yes!", I'll follow up after the Primary to help them get on the ballot.
> What do they need, five signatures, a loyalty oath and no financial
> reporting? Not too tough.
>
> Currently in Abington we have two elected IoE's serving.
> Come the fall,
> there's no reason we can't have a dozen! If we can duplicate this
> strategy countywide and statewide, we can elect hundreds, if
> not THOUSANDS
> of Libertarians this year.
>
> So consider this e-mail a heads up. If you want to be
> part of this
> record-breaking strategy, you can start now by visiting your
> county seat.
> While you're there, pick up a copy of your voter registration database,
> and compile a list of open IoE and JoE seats. It also wouldn't hurt to
> start calling prospective candidates now, even though we have
> until August
> 1 to file the papers. The sooner you start, the better.
>
> The ultimate result of your own individual, personal
> initiative could be
> dozens, maybe hundreds of "get into office free" cards for the LPP. And
> that will be more than enough for Pennsylvania to overtake California as
> the state with the most elected Libertarians in the nation.
>
> If it is to be, it is up to us.
>
> - Ken
>
>
> P.S. In 1997, Montgomery County elected twelve IoE's and
> JoE's, making us
> the county with the most elected Libertarians not only in Pennsylvania,
> but also in the entire nation. I wonder which county will
> claim the honor
> this time?
