Voters in Iowa’s 1,800 election precincts should find a good system even better by the 2008 presidential election as a result of a new program to train and certify local poll workers.

A pilot program in Woodbury County in May was the first in a series planned for precinct election officials in all 99 Iowa counties. Iowa State University Extension developed the training in cooperation with the Iowa State Association of County Auditors, the Iowa Association of Counties and Help America Vote Act (HAVA) programs for the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.

Extension hopes to repeat the Woodbury training across the state so there will be at least one certified election official working in every precinct for the 2008 election, said Alan Vandehaar, an ISU Extension community development field specialist. Plans already are in place to offer the program in about 40 counties each year in 2006 and 2007 with the final training to be finished in early 2008.

The certification program for precinct workers resulted from an earlier program ISU Extension offered to county auditors and their deputies who are the administrators of elections under Iowa law. Representatives from 97 counties have participated in the State Election Administrator Training program, and those graduates have been strong advocates for the precinct training now being offered.

The Woodbury training resulted in certification of 42 poll workers. Participants learned about the requirements in Iowa law designed to ensure open, honest and fair elections.

The Woodbury participants were unanimous in saying they would recommend the program to others. Evaluation comments included “I’m now more confident in my ability to lead precinct officials through the voting process,” “made me feel more confident in working the election” and “I liked the small class size; much more beneficial than large groups.”

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