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View Full Version : Anyone with experience as an 'Election Specialist'?




belian78
06-17-2008, 06:17 AM
"Election Specialist
Secretarial/Office
Election Specialist - General Operations Peoria Board of Election Commissioners Assist with various duties relating to the administration of elections and voter registration. Assist with recruitment, training, and appointment of election judges. Prepare correspondence and perform clerical support."

I saw a help wanted ad for this, and wanted to get input from you guys. Is this a year around job? It has a decent salary, a bit lower than what i make now, but if it were a good jump off point to get into local political activities i'd consider it. Any input you guys could give would be great.

rodo1776
06-17-2008, 07:01 AM
This is a city/county job it appears. You would probably not be able to be involved in any campaigns or learn anything other than how diebold machines are programmed (nice skill I guess) and have to talk to senior citizens groups looking for elections judges.

BORING>

Anyone wants to learn how to run a campaign start at the local level and volunteer on a campaign.

Pick the least objectionable person running locally for city council, mayor, state house of reps, state senator etc. Then go to door knocks, parades, literature drops, phone banks or any activity.

Then you can meet people and see how campaigns work. Most is nitty gritty work. But there is planning and organization as well.

Get involved. Actually lots of these events you get free food and drinks afterwords.

belian78
06-17-2008, 07:50 AM
thanks i appreciate it. i most certainly do want to be involved in future campaigns so maybe this might not be the best approach.

rodo1776
06-17-2008, 11:45 AM
Yeah it can be fun campaigning. Normally you just door knock for a couple of hours, come back have somethign to eat and then meet some people.

You can be openly RP and revolutionary and the people will still like you and value your help and you spread the word and learn about how to run a campaign.

A no lose situation if you are willing to give up a night or Saturday morning once in awhile.

belian78
06-17-2008, 12:10 PM
Yeah it can be fun campaigning. Normally you just door knock for a couple of hours, come back have somethign to eat and then meet some people.

You can be openly RP and revolutionary and the people will still like you and value your help and you spread the word and learn about how to run a campaign.

A no lose situation if you are willing to give up a night or Saturday morning once in awhile.

i've done it for over a year now, so no prob at all. just looking forward to the CFL training seminars they were talking about. public speaking is something i've always been comfortable with.

asgardshill
06-17-2008, 12:50 PM
It sounds like what we call an Election Administrator here. It pays about $50,000 a year w/benefits, an office, and a county car. The job description includes doing/signing paperwork, maintaining and servicing the voting machines at the polling places, and answering questions from the public and the county commissioners. I've applied for the job myself, and there's a good chance that I'll get it because nobody else here has the first clue how to set up and run the voting machines so that they work right.

newyearsrevolution08
06-17-2008, 12:52 PM
Well maybe I will look for positions like this here in my city as well and toss a ron paul supporter in the position among others. I didn't even think about the positions we can fill locally that do not require votes BUT will still produce results for us...

great idea and good luck with the job.

asgardshill
06-17-2008, 12:56 PM
Well maybe I will look for positions like this here in my city as well and toss a ron paul supporter in the position among others. I didn't even think about the positions we can fill locally that do not require votes BUT will still produce results for us...

great idea and good luck with the job.

Job One for me is going to be getting us back to using paper ballots. I have never trusted the electronic systems (they're called E-Slates here) as far as I could throw them. I mean really, if somebody as rockheaded as I am can master them, how tough could it be for a real crook to do it?

Tarzan
06-17-2008, 01:10 PM
thanks i appreciate it. i most certainly do want to be involved in future campaigns so maybe this might not be the best approach.

Most local candidates... (ok... take out the local part) have no clue how to run a campaign. So, some reading might be in order. I have read several books on running a campaign and there are three I would recommend:

1. "How to WIN a Local Election: A complete step by step guide" by Judge
Lawrence Grey (2007)
A terrific technical guide (the campaign manager is a bit better) and an
outstanding read for understanding the "feel" of a campaign. Both books are
very good... if you only get one this is the one to get... though I recommend
both.

2. "The Campaign Manager" by Catherine Shaw (third edition)
An excellent technical guide. A little dated (be sure to get the latest
release!) but very much worth the read and for use as a guide to your
campaign... starting with a Campaign Strategy.

3. "Get out the Vote: How to increase voter turnout" by Donald Green & Alan Gerber (second edition)
Pretty much what the title says. Somewhat technical and indicates the difficulty of the GOTV effort. Provides techniques and measurement of the efforts/results (statistics) to help get ideas and implement efforts based on the resources available to the campaign.

If you (and others) would read these three books (and apply them) you would be light years ahead of the competition. And, if you decide to work with a campaign to learn, make sure you pick a staff with a winning record. If you learn from losers you will learn to lose... learn to win.