Poll Watcher

In addition to being a Presiding Election Judge on Election Day, I am also a trained Poll Watcher at the Central Counting Facility in the Dallas County Elections Department for Early Voting. I usually am appointed to the position to represent candidates running in my precinct.

I am part of a 14-18 person team that observes the counting process in the Central Count Facility for the whole county.

My typical assignment, along with my Poll Watching partner (we always work in pairs) is to witness each Election Judge dropping off the ballots from their Voting Centers (paper ballots along with the USB drives ballot media) as they arrive at "Turn In" at Dallas County Elections Department. We observe the ballot media by keeping "eye on" the entire time and finally observe their secure conveyance into the Central Count Facility itself where my colleagues on our Poll Watching team take over observing the count itself. In a typical year, my team will observe about 70% of the total Dallas County vote cast in an entire election while being turned in on the Friday night after Early Voting closes.

My colleagues and I train for this duty to comply with all applicable laws and codes: the US Constitution, the Texas Constitution, the Texas Election Code, the Texas Administrative Code and Advisories from the Texas Secretary of State.