SB 20

Current law generally requires election officials to be qualified electors of the

municipality in which the officials serve. In addition, current law generally requires

election officials who serve at a polling place to be qualified electors of the ward for

which the polling place is established, whenever a municipality is divided into wards.

However, special registration deputies who register electors at a polling place on

election day, election officials who are appointed to work at a polling place that serves

more than one ward, election officials who are reassigned by a municipal clerk or

board of election commissioners to correct staffing deficiencies, or election officials

who are appointed to fill a temporary or permanent vacancy need not be electors of

any particular ward, but must be qualified electors of the municipality in which they

serve. Officials who are appointed to work at a polling place that serves more than

one ward must be electors of one of the wards served by the polling place. A high

school pupil who is 16 or 17 years of age may serve as an inspector (poll worker) at

the polling place serving his or her residence. In addition, if the municipal clerk or

the executive director of a board of election commissioners or a deputy to the clerk

or executive director serves as a special registration deputy or is appointed to work

at a polling place to fill a vacancy in an inspector position, the clerk, executive

director, or deputy need not be a resident of the municipality in which he or she

serves.

This bill provides, with certain exceptions, that an individual who serves as an

election official at a polling place on election day need be an elector only of a county

in which the municipality where the official serves is located. An individual who

serves as the chief inspector at a polling place must be a qualified elector of the

municipality where he or she serves unless no qualified candidate is available or the

chief inspector is appointed to fill a temporary vacancy. A high school pupil who

serves as an inspector must continue to meet the current residency requirement.