2023 - Winner for Best Practices in Recruiting, Retaining, and Training Poll Workers

Nowadays, when we need to learn how to perform a new task, like a home repair or exercise, people turn to online videos to help. Elections administration is no different. During the 2020 election, Hamilton County created a virtual training program. While the county has returned to in-person training in the years since the pandemic, the Board of Elections (BOE) has maintained online training resources to be available to poll workers 24/7. In 2023, the BOE began incorporating its online training video library into the physical reference materials provided at the polling location. As an example, when a poll worker turns to the page in the quick guide with instructions on how to set up the ballot collection box, there is a QR code that takes the poll worker to a YouTube video demonstrating how to set it up. Since most poll workers have smart phones, the workers can pull up the training videos quickly on election day. Deploying the videos in this fashion helps cut down on calls to the BOE on election day and also accommodates poll workers with different learning styles.