ATLANTA (Nov. 7, 2022) — The Carter Center today issued a statement on its assessment of training for Election Day poll workers in Arizona, drawing on limited in-person observation and a desk review of poll worker training materials.
The Center found that the majority of counties provide guidance to poll workers on most of the suggested training topics outlined in the 2019 Elections Procedures Manual for the state of Arizona. The poll worker training was consistent with state law and covered key elements needed to ensure that poll workers can administer safe, lawful, inclusive, and secure elections while providing a positive voter experience.
As part of its pilot election program in Arizona to increase public oversight of the election process, The Carter Center mobilized nonpartisan observers to attend recent poll worker trainings in Mohave, Navajo, and Coconino counties. In counties where nonpartisan election observers could not be accommodated during poll worker training, the Center conducted a desk review of poll worker training materials, including manuals and videos. The Center reviewed training materials from Apache, Cochise, Graham, Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai, and Yuma counties.
In the sessions observed by the Center, poll worker training took place in a calm, respectful environment that was free of disruptions, intimidation, or harassment. No official political party observers (Democrat, Libertarian, or Republican) nor members of the media were present during the trainings. The Center’s observers found that training venues were generally accessible to people with disabilities.
All the trainings and materials reviewed by the Center provided information on the following topics: opening and closing the voting locations, materials made available to poll workers and how to use them, hours that voting locations should be open, hours that poll workers are expected to work, establishing a 75-foot limit beyond which electioneering shall not take place, enforcing rules against electioneering, standard voting procedures, procedures for checking voter identification, procedures for processing provisional ballots, procedures for dropping off an early ballot on Election Day, spoiled ballot procedures, operating voting equipment, political party observers, preparing official ballot reports, and the transmission of results or delivery of votes to the central counting place.
Based on this limited observation, and looking ahead to future election cycles, The Carter Center recommends that Arizona counties explore ways to provide more detailed and consistent guidance to poll workers regarding the following topics: defining and enforcing rules against voter intimidation, processing voters with nonstandard addresses or tribal identification, troubleshooting commonly encountered errors with election equipment, and implementing wait-time reduction plans.
The Carter Center plans to provide additional nonpartisan reporting on the conduct of the 2022 midterm election in Arizona, drawing on a combination of in-person observations — where permitted by law — and analysis of public election data.
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Contact: In Atlanta, Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org
The Carter Center
Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
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