craigdailypress.com

Oscar King always makes sure he has extra "I voted" stickers on Election Day.

He uses them as a tool to ensure that children who accompany their parents to the polls remember voting as a positive experience. Children who visit King's polling never leave without their own stickers.

"I like to see parents bring in kids," he said. "They think (getting a sticker) is a big thing."

King has been a judge in every election for nearly 10 years.

"It involves a little bit of time, but it's well worth it," he said.

King signed up to be an election judge the first time he participated in a precinct caucus.

"I just decided I wanted to go to a caucus to see how it operated," he said. "They had signups for election judges, so I thought I might as well see how that works, too."

With 13 precincts, Moffat County needs between 39 and 65 judges for each general election. When the precincts are separated, more judges are needed, but with the Centennial Mall serving as a combined polling place, the election runs with fewer.

Judges earn $105 for nearly 14 hours of service.

"It's hard," Colleen Wilkinson said. "It's a long, long day."

Wilkinson also became an election judge after participating in the process at the caucus level. Her mother, Jessie Rowley, was running for clerk and recorder in 1990, and Wilkinson attended the caucus as a delegate.

"I've never not done it since then," she said. "I like it. I like knowing the process and seeing people."

Being able to say "hi" to people they haven't seen in a while is a reason King and Wilkinson gave for their continued service.

"It's nice just to renew acquaintances," King said. "It's a real positive thing to see people get out and vote."

Although election judges sign up at precinct caucuses, there aren't always enough, particularly Democrats.

Election law requires that there be at least three election judges per precinct and that an equal number of Democrats and Republicans are represented.

Moffat County election official Lila Herod keeps a database of anyone who has ever served as an election judge or expressed interest so she can get at least two people per precinct with the right party affiliation.

"Once you sign up, you're in my database forever," she said.

A student judge usually fills the third seat.

Difficulty recruiting a Democratic election judge is one reason voters in the Browns Park precinct only vote via absentee ballots.

To man the polls as required by statute, someone would have to drive from Craig.

"That's a lot to ask," Herod said. "Especially when you only see about 40 voters."

Judges are required to attend a one-hour presentation to be familiarized with their jobs, but most return year after year and are familiar with the process and laws.

Election judges usually arrive at the polls shortly after 6 a.m. on election day and stay until the last ballot is cast -- around 7 p.m.

"During the day it can get kind of hectic, and they get exhausted from being there 12 hours," Herod said.

"If it's a good election, with good turnout, it's even more tiring."

Herod typically has few problems recruiting enough judges to serve the Craig-area precincts, but other counties use creative strategies to recruit election judges.

In metro-area counties, members of civic clubs are urged to volunteer as judges and use the money they earn as a fund-raiser, or employers are asked to give employees a day off to work as election judges.

About the only problem Herod faces is that few younger people sign up.

Involving student judges is something she and many others are doing to help turn that around.

There's little downtime in some elections, but when there is, judges bring projects or books to fill the time.

Judges rank the 2003 election as not only the busiest, but the one where voters were most abusive.

"People were so mean to us all day long," Wilkinson said. "They yelled at us and were mad at us."

Not only was it the first election in which voters were required to show identification, there was record turnout in a combined election in which only two precincts served all Craig-area voters. Some judges said they didn't even have time to use the restroom.

"You couldn't win for losing," Wilkinson said.

Despite the long hours and sometimes abusive voters, the low rate of election judge turnover indicates that those who serve are happy with their posting.

"I believe the numbers are going down. People aren't getting out there," Wilkinson said.

"We need people to tell people to get out and vote, and that's what I do.

"If you don't use our right to vote, you're going to lose it. It's just like any part of the body. You have to exercise our right to vote. People fought for that."

Herod holds what she likes to call a "judges pow-wow" after each election to get feedback on what worked and what didn't.

"We try really hard to have a good relationship with our judges, because we know we couldn't do it without them," Herod said.

Christina M. Currie can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 210, or ccurrie@craigdailypress.com.